MANILA (2016 Rio Olympics) - It's been 44 long years since the Philippines competed in a men's basketball tournament at an Olympic Games.

However, there is plenty of optimism that the current Gilas squad, coached by Tab Baldwin, will stop the rot in 2016. The Philippines will play in one of the three FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs) with the winners of each six-team event booking their place to play at the Rio de Janeiro Games. 

While Asia has never been the powerhouse continent of international basketball, there is no doubt that the level of play has improved. The Philippines are one of the teams on the up. After reaching the Final of the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship they hosted in Manila, the national team added naturalized power forward/center Andray Blatche to the squad and he surpassed expectations at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

The former NBA player led the team in points and rebounds and helped them stay close in their first four games before leading them to victory over Senegal in their last contest.

This past summer, Blatche was out of shape but still helped Gilas reach the Final of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in China.

He has now given the Filipinos the nod that yes, he is once again ready to play for the national team.

"After we decided that we will compete in the Rio Olympics qualifier [FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments], we immediately informed Andray," Gilas team manager Butch Antonio said to Panay News over the weekend. "He's given his assurance he'll be available and he's okay."

What that means is that the Philippines will get a player who averaged 21.2 points and 13.8 rebounds per game at the World Cup in Spain, and 17.8 points and 9.2 boards at the continental level in Changsha-Hunan.

Andray Blatche (PHI)

Blatche is currently competing in the Chinese Basketball Association with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers. His representative will be looking to put pen to paper on his agreement with the Philippines in the coming days and weeks.

"The two parties will just be working on the finer details of the contract," Antonio said.

FIBA