By ADRIAN STEWART CO

San Miguel Beermen guard Terrence Romeo is making his way back to Gilas Pilipinas for the 19th Asian Games later this month in Hangzhou, China.

Romeo was among the call-ups of Philippine men’s basketball team interim head coach Earl Timothy “Tim” Cone, who attended the first day of training at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City on Monday, September 11.

Romeo was one of the top guns of then-Gilas Pilipinas head coach Vincent “Chot” Reyes during the campaigns of the national men’s basketball team in the 2010s.

He last donned the Gilas Pilipinas jersey during the infamous “basketbrawl” between the Philippine team and Australia in FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers 2019.

Also invited to the training is Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots’ Calvin Abueva and Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters’ Jason Perkins, but their return is still pending the approval of the Asian Games organizing committee.

If ever Abueva and Perkins were not given a green light as injury replacements, Cone will be inserting Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings guard Stanley Pringle to the roster.

Four members of the Gilas Pilipinas team in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Kings’ Japeth Aguilar and Earl Scottie Thompson, Beermen’s June Mar Fajardo, and TNT Tropang Giga’s Roger Pogoy also attended the training session.

Completing the squad were World Cup team final cuts Chris Newsome and Calvin Oftana, Beermen’s Moala Tautuaa, and naturalized players Justin Brownlee and Angelo Kouame.

Gilas will face Bahrain on September 26, Thailand on September 28, and Jordan on September 30, with the top two teams in Group C advancing to the knockout playoffs./ASC, WDJ