By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Gilas Pilipinas interim coach Tim Cone has completed his 12-man roster ahead of their 19th Asian Games men’s basketball campaign, which will begin on Tuesday, September 26 in Hangzhou, China.
According to Cone, he is sticking with his four new additions — Chris Ross, Kevin Alas, Jaymar Perez, and Arvin Tolentino — with their appeal for the inclusions of Calvin Abueva, Jason Perkins, Terrence Romeo, and Moala Tautuaa likely to be denied.
Abueva, Perkins, Romeo, and Tautuaa were disallowed from joining Gilas 12, as they were not part of the provisional rosters that were submitted to the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee.
“I can’t imagine anything changing by this time,” Cone said ahead of their departure for China yesterday.
“It kills me to rule those four guys out [Abueva, Perkins, Tautuaa, and Romeo],” he said.
“They really changed the dynamics of the team in terms of size and versatility and even knowledge because they have all that foundational knowledge from the beginning of the inspired camp,” he added.
However, Cone is grateful to Ross, Alas, Perez, and Tolentino for stepping in even at short notice as the Gilas Pilipinas hopes to improve their fifth place finish during the 2018 Asiad.
“We’re really thankful and appreciative of the fact that Chris, Kevin, Arvin, and CJ came back and chose to join us despite not being the first choices,” Cone said.
“They understand it’s for the country. So they’ll do whatever it takes,” he said.
“We lose a little bit in terms of size, but we don’t lose anything in terms of really just pure talent we have. They are talented and they are smart, and they are all leaders,” he added.
The four will join naturalized players Justin Brownlee and Angelo Kouame, and local players June Mar Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, Japeth Aguilar, Earl Scottie Thompson, Chris Newsome, and Calvin Oftana.
The Philippine men’s basketball team will first face Bahrain on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m., followed by Thailand on Thursday, September 28 at 11:00 a.m., and Jordan on Saturday, September 30 at 5:30 p.m./ASC, WDJ