CALAMBA CITY — Scottie Thompson will sit out when Gilas Pilipinas competes in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Latvia from 2 to 7 July.

Gilas team manager Richard del Rosario said Thompson begged off from joining their four-day training camp at the Inspire Sports Academy here as he is still nursing a bulging disc, an injury that he sustained during the Philippine Cup of the Philippine Basketball Association.

Thompson, in fact, was not in attendance when Gilas convened for its first day of training in this world-class facility inside the National University campus.

Showing up were seven-time PBA Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo, Chris Newsome, Japeth Aguilar, CJ Perez, Calvin Oftana, Dwight Ramos, Mason Amos, Carl Tamayo, Kevin Quiambao, Kai Sotto and naturalized player Justin Brownlee.

AJ Edu and Jamie Malonzo were supposed to join but they were replaced by Aguilar and Amos as they are still nursing various injuries.

Now, it’s Thompson’s turn to sit out, dealing a major blow to the national squad that will be leaving on Tuesday to play friendly matches against the national team of Turkey and Poland before facing Latvia and Georgia in the crucial tourney that stakes only one ticket to the Paris Olympics.

Cone is no longer expected to pick Thompson’s replacement, which means that Gilas will be leaving for Europe with only 11 players.

“It’s hard to pick a replacement because he would need a visa. He might not make it on time,”

del Rosario said.