Elavo to Make 3x3 Basketball Coaching Debut for PNG

Gabriel Elavo will make his first 3x3 national basketball coaching stint on the international stage when he leads the PNG men’s and women’s teams to participate in the 2025 FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup scheduled from March 26-30 in Singapore.

Elavo, a former PNG representative shooting guard, comes from an avid basketball family spanning more than two generations. The Elavos have been a household name in Port Moresby and PNG since the late 1970s, and are continuing the family legacy.  

The Gulf-Central man started his basketball career in 2007. In his 15 years-plus colorful career, he went on to play a couple of finals with the Tamaraws club in the Premier Basketball League (PMBL), Port Moresby Basketball Association (POMBA), as well as the annual National Souths Basketball League (NSBL), and to top it off, he has represented PNG 3 times. 

Known for his lethal shooting prowess, Elavo is considered one of the best shooting guards in PNG, lighting up the basketball arena both locally and internationally. He retired from representative duties in 2022 to focus on club games and later transitioned into coaching.

While playing, Elavo had plans to go into coaching after retiring from the game he fell in love with when he was a teenager. Basketball has taught him valuable things in life, and he gives credit to the game for shaping the man that he is today.

“I owe it to basketball. It has changed my life since I fell in love with the game. Discipline, commitment, and dedication had brought me this far,” he said.

Elavo began his coaching career in 2017, being in charge of the Tamaraws juniors while playing. He is a competitor on and off the court, pushing himself to become a better player and person.

“I felt that I needed to share my experience with the next generation of players and that’s where the passion about coaching came back in 2017 when I coached the Tamaraws juniors,” he stated.

“I’ve always challenged myself to reach my full potential. As a player, I set my goal to represent PNG, which I did and after retiring from representative duties, I set my goal of coaching the national team and have achieved it, but it’s only the beginning.”

The veteran basketball player-turned-coach mentioned that transitioning from a player to a coach had been great, although it has its ups and downs, the experience is worth it. 

Coaching a national side for the first time is nerve-wracking and challenging. However, Elavo is optimistic about the two national teams and looks forward to leading them on foreign soil next week. 

“I feel proud of myself as I’ve achieved a milestone and a dream,” the elated newly appointed national coach for the 3x3 basketball team expressed.

“I feel confident of the teams’ preparations (men & women) leading up to the tournament. We only need to transition what we’ve done in training into game situations. We’ve done the hard work to get to where we are as a team to reach our full potential.”

Elavo’s future plan is to further develop his coaching skills and mentor the next generation of basketball players not just in Port Moresby, but across the country, highlighting his coaching philosophy.

“My coaching philosophy is to teach life through basketball. Everyone must work together to achieve a common goal - teach each player the importance of positive attitude, character, knowledge, and goal setting - and how these factors apply to life, classroom, job, and on the basketball court,” he outlined.

Meanwhile, the PNG 3x3 National Basketball Men’s and Women’s teams will leave the country (PNG) next Monday, with the tournament expected to start on Wednesday (March 26th) and end on Sunday (March 30th). 

PC: Supplied