The unparalleled achievement of the Gilas Pilipinas team apparently will not go unrewarded.
Sources said Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Manny V. Pangilinan reportedly will reward each member of the team no less than P1 million for making the country proud with their second place finish in the FIBA Asia Championship which earned the Philippines a slot in the World Cup of basketball next year in Spain.
The exact amount could not be immediately verified but the same sources said it would be "seven figures."
The bonus reportedly was broached before the start of the semifinal round.
But some sources said the P1 million incentives probably will only count if Gilas had won the championship.
"The amount of P1 million is probably too high," said one source who requested anonymity.
He guessed the amount would probably be half of that for settling for the silver medal.
Whatever the amount, each Gilas player surely deserves every centavo.
Gilas was very tough, says Iran Coach
Meanwhile, Iran coach Mehmed Becirovic described his team's 85-71 title victory over Gilas Pilipinas as the most difficult game they had to play during the event.
The Iranians, who raced through the tournament practically without a sweat until the finals, used their full strength in the second half as Gilas kept fighting back, egged on by 20,000 partisan supporters.
But led by the 7-foot-2 center Hamed Hadadi, Iran finally broke Gilas's spirit with his timely hits in the second half, oftentimes without real opposition.
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