By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Japeth Aguilar is making his Gilas Pilipinas comeback as they face Hong Kong at the start of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup first window qualifiers at the Tsuen Wan Sports Centre in Hong Kong tonight.

The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings center was brought back by Gilas head coach Tim Cone to cover up for the absences of big men June Mar Fajardo and Ariel John Edu due to injuries.

The 6-foot-9 Aguilar has previously hinted at the national men’s basketball team retirement after suiting up for the Gilas Pilipinas team that captured a gold medal in the 2023 Asian Games in China.

“He is really God-send because we really lost a lot of size with injury in June Mar and AJ,” Cone said.

“Japeth being with Kai [Sotto] is going to be really big for us. Think about that, that’s 6-foot-11 [Fajardo] and 6-foot-10 [Edu] that we won’t have,” he said.

“But we have Kai and Japeth and Carl Tamayo. He will also play a bit of that position,” he added.

Cone stated that he is far from discouraged despite having injury setbacks in the first window of the qualifiers, as there are players who are always ready to step up.

“These are things that happen to any basketball team,” Cone said.

“These types of things happen all the time, and it is just a matter of rolling with the punches and continuing to live with this,” he added.

Also part of the Gilas Pilipinas’ 12-man roster are naturalized player Justin Brownlee, Jamie Malonzo, Earl Scottie Thompson, Jaymar Perez, Calvin Oftana, and Chris Newsome.

Completing the team are Japan B.League standout Dwight Ramos and De La Salle University Green Archers center Kevin Quiambao.

Aside from Hong Kong, the Philippine men’s basketball team will also face Chinese-Taipei at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City on Sunday, February 25, to conclude their Window 1 assignment./ASC, WDJ