By Adrian Stewart Co

Already a heavy underdog, Gilas Pilipinas was decimated even further with Dwight Ramos unlikely to play in their two matches in the 2021 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade, Serbia.

Gilas head coach Thomas “Tab” Baldwin said the groin injury sustained by Ramos in the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers two weeks ago was worse than expected making him unavailable for their games against Serbia on July 1 and Dominican Republic on July 2.

“Dwight is not likely for either game but things can change overnight. But for a groin injury, that’s not common. Usually, these things drag on and that is what we are experiencing,” Baldwin said.

“Dwight has already told me that he wants to try, but he is just in no shape to try. So I know that they are going to go out there,” added Baldwin on the 6-foot-5 Ramos, who averaged 13.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.0 steals in the FIBA Asia Cup.

Apart from Ramos, the national men’s basketball team could also miss the services of Carl Tamayo, who suffered a setback with his ankle injury, while naturalized center Angelo Kouame was also limping.

“Carl Tamayo, I wouldn’t say that he has a setback… But now that he is trying to go full speed, he is experiencing quite a bit of discomfort on his ankle,” the Gilas Pilipinas mentor said.

“Ange Kouame is nursing his deep knee bruise, deep knee contusion that he got from the third window,” Baldwin added. “He is not in full speed but I think he will push through.”

Baldwin stressed that, despite being banged up, the national men’s basketball team are expected to give their all in the qualifiers, which will serve as their learning curve ahead of future competitions.

“We are banged up. We are limping but these are key players and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If they are going to give their best, that’s what they’ll give,” Baldwin said.

Gilas Pilipinas needs to finish at No. 2 in the three-team bracket to advance to the crossover semifinals. Only the qualifiers champion will punch a ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Other countries which were already qualified to the Summer Games were host Japan, reigning Olympic gold medalist United States of America, 2019 World Cup champion Spain, Argentina, France, Australia, Nigeria, Iran, and the victors of the other OQTs in Kaunas, Lithuania; Victoria, Canada; and Croatia./ASC, WDJ