Five amateurs make the team
By Adrian Stewart Co

Ilonggo forward Ferdinand ‘Thirdy’ Ravena III, alongside four other amateurs, were named to the Philippine men’s national basketball team, Gilas Pilipinas, expected to compete in the upcoming 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, which begins Sunday, February 23, against Indonesia at the BritAma Arena in Jakarta.
Aside from Ravena, Matt Nieto, George Isaac Go, Dwight Ramos, and Juan Gomez de Liano were also named to the squad. They join Ilonggo guard Kiefer Ravena, Bacolodnon center Justin Chua, Jeth Troy Rosario, Roger Pogoy, John Paul Erram, Abu Tratter, and Jaymar Perez.
Meanwhile, Gilas head coach Mark Dickel admitted there were several “tough cuts,” including Javee Mocon and Allyn Bulanadi.
“If you look at someone like Javee Mocon, that was a very difficult decision to make,” the coach explained. “We felt like we just had it covered with Thirdy and Dwight.”
“As for Allyn, I thought he was so good [during] practices,” he added. “We felt we had it covered with Roger and CJ, in particular, in that spot.”/ASC, WDJ