Cone drops Lucero, Abando

Zavier Lucero and Rhenz Abando have been cut from the list of players considered for Gilas Pilipinas roster in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup opening next week in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Gilas coach Tim Cone has scratched off the two, trimming down the pool to just 14, from which the decorated tactician will decide who will make the Final 12 lineup that will see action in the tournament that will run from 5 to 17 August.

Both Lucero and Abando did not participate in Gilas’ buildup in Pampanga.

“Rhenz, because he hasn’t been able to come in and really practice with us, he is not (under consideration),” Cone said after Gilas 103-98 win over the Macau Black Bears in their send-off game Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Lucero, on the other hand, has yet to be cleared to play as a local under FIBA rules.

“And Lucero, we never got a go-ahead from FIBA to put him in as a local. We are still checking on that,” Cone added.

With Lucero and Abando out, other reserve pool members Troy Rosario and RJ Abarrientos of Barangay Ginebra could get a chance to play, especially with Calvin Oftana’s status still in doubt after spraining both his ankles during TNT’s spoiled grand slam campaign in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup.

“Right now, it’s been RJ and Troy and they’ve been with us the first moment we started practicing,” the 25-time PBA champion coach of the Kings said.

“I don’t know how we’ve gone through this last two weeks without them because we were practicing with seven, eight guys through most of the week. Without Troy and RJ, we’ll be down to six, or five. They were really, really crucial to our preparation.”

Cone and Gilas will have another round of practice this morning before flying to the Middle Eastern kingdom on Wednesday night.

The Filipinos are scheduled to play Jordan a couple of days after settling in Jeddah, before the main draw in Group D, where they will face Chinese Taipei, New Zealand and Iraq.

Cone will name his final roster soon.

“The only question mark for the team again is Calvin. Whether he’s gonna be able to go or not,” he said.

Gilas opens its Asia Cup bid on 6 August against the Taiwanese followed by a rematch with the Tall Blacks on the 8th before taking on Iraq on the 10th.