A bigger calling
Mike Phillips could only thank the heavens above for the opportunity of finally getting the chance to suit up for Gilas Pilipinas in a Fiba tournament when the National Five plays two tough road games early next month in the World Cup Asian Qualifiers window.
Amid the absence of a number of mainstays for various reasons, Gilas tapped the hard-working La Salle product for the games that will wrap up the first round of qualification for the 2027 edition of the Worlds in Doha, Qatar.
“There’s a lot of full circle moments in my life right now,” Phillips said in Filipino when Gilas held an open practice for fans on Monday at Playtime Filoil Centre in San Juan.
“The reason why I’m here is because of the grace of God,” said Phillips, also known for his deep Christian faith. “This opportunity is really a huge blessing, and I want to help the team in any way I can.”
True local player
Recently classified as a local player by Fiba, Phillips became eligible to don the Philippine jersey without any complications. The current MPBL star for San Juan traces his Filipino roots to his grandmother, who hails from Cebu.
Coach Tim Cone welcomed the addition of Phillips at a time when Kai Sotto, Quentin Millora-Brown, Scottie Thompson and Calvin Oftana are out for the road games against New Zealand and Australia.
Sotto is once again taking a crack at his NBA dream through the Summer League in Las Vegas, while Millora-Brown is undergoing surgery after his maiden B.League campaign for the Chiba Jets.
Thompson and Oftana, on the other hand, are skipping the window after playing through injuries during the recent PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals won by Thompson’s Barangay Ginebra over the TNT Tropang 5G and Oftana in seven grueling games.
‘Come in and fit’
With those big absences, Cone also added Troy Rosario and Juan Gomez de Liaño to the 12-man roster for the window, along with Justine Baltazar.
The rest of the squad for the July 3 contest against New Zealand and the July 6 meeting with Australia are naturalized player Justin Brownlee, June Mar Fajardo, Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao, Carl Tamayo, Chris Newsome, RJ Abarrientos and AJ Edu.
“We just don’t look at the talent and say ‘He’s the most talented player there, so we’re gonna get him,’” Cone said. “We try to make him (Phillips) come in and fit the puzzle of the vision we have for the team.
“His nickname is ‘Motor Mike’ and there’s a reason why he’s ‘Motor Mike,’ which is very apt,” Cone went on. “He comes in and goes at it.”
The 24-year-old Phillips is set to make his first Fiba appearance after previously representing Gilas at the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, as part of the team that won the gold.
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