While it may seem like the PBA could be directly affected in the coming years by the "invasion of Pinoy talent", Espiritu said everything still depends on various factors like the talent needed by a Japanese team and salary, among others. "I think the new generation of talents, especially the ones with Gilas pedigree, they (players) are starting to understand their capabilities that they can really play in the international level, especially in the pro level," he added. "With this new generation of talents that we have, the way to go is to play international basketball," stressed Espiritu, who co-owns the EMBM Management group that handles the basketball careers of over 80 players led by PBA stars Japeth Aguilar, Matthew Wright and Kiefer Ravena. Kemark Carino (Aomori Wat's) and Juan Gomez de Liaño (Earthfriends Tokyo Z) recently agreed to also join their respective Japanese squads in the second division. The 6-foot-4 Ramos becomes the eighth Filipino player to play in the Japanese B.League after the Ravena brothers Thirdy (San-En NeoPhoenix) and Kiefer (Shiga Lakestars), Bobby Ray Parks (Nagoya Diamond Dolphins), Kobe Paras (Niigata Albirex BB), and Javi Gomez de Liaño (Ibaraki Robots) in the first division. Ramos' impressive play for Gilas easily captured the fancy of the Japanese ballclub as the Fil-American averaged 13.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists in the national squad's 6-0 record in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. That means the 23-year-old sweet-shooting wingman will no longer play for the Blue Eagles after earlier committing to play for the reigning UAAP men's basketball champion.
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