IT seems the country will no longer join the 30th William Jones Cup in Taipei.

A BAP-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas insider yesterday revealed that all communiques sent by outgoing SBP executive director Patrick Gregorio remained unanswered by the Jones Cup's organizers.

This year's edition of the Jones Cup starts on July 10 in at Sinjhuang Stadium, Taipei.

San Miguel-Philippine teams won the Jones Cup in 1981 and 1985 while the Tim Cone-coached Centennial Team pulled off the trick in 1998.

Such deafening silence from the Taiwanese has forced the BAP-SBP to abandon any hope of joining the tournament for good, although they actually have until today to confirm whether the Philippines is in or not.

Even Gregorio, who is expected to be replaced by former PBA commissioner Noli Eala when the national cage body holds its first national congress tomorrow at the Dusit Hotel, admitted nobody from the organizers have entertained his appeals, which were said to have been sent "several times."

Gregorio also said they will not wait for another week because the team also has to train as soon as possible. And if there is no solid answer until today, he said he will formally kiss the tournament goodbye and make an announcement to that effect today.

"Let's give the Jones Cup organizers until tomorrow (today) to come up with a decision," Gregorio said. "There's no feedback as of 2 p.m. (yesterday). If ever nothing happens, we will let it go. We can't wait for them to decide because we also need to train the team."

Five-time PBL champion Harbour Centre would have been the country's representative in the Jones Cup, but its organizers refused and, instead, asked Gregorio to assemble an all-professional squad that will draw a good-sized Filipino crowd to the commercial tournament.

The organizers' wish is deemed impossible since the PBA has already made a statement professing its desire not to join any international tournament this year to avoid disrupting its calendar.

Gregorio said he told organizers a highly-competitive amateur squad powered by four to six PBA players will be sent, but to no avail.

The source said Harbour Centre has already lost interest in joining the tournament. In fact, it has yet to hold any serious practice or scrimmage with time running out, stressing it is still waiting for a solid confirmation from the organizers through Gregorio.

Earlier, the PBA barred All-Filipino Cup champion Sta. Lucia Realty from joining the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup in the United Arab Emirates, citing the pro league has no commitment to send a team since the memorandum of understanding inked between the league and SBP has already expired.