Seasoned guard Scottie Thompson will not be in uniform when Gilas Pilipinas competes in the third window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifier next month.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) made the announcement, saying that the bang-up Thompson will be replaced by Juan Gomez de Liaño in the squad that will battle New Zealand on 3 July in Auckland and Australia on 6 July in Perth in the prestigious qualifiers.

All banged up, bruised and cut, Thompson played through pain and anchored the Barangay Ginebra locals in helping resident import Justin Brownlee tow the Kings to the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup throne by toppling TNT last Wednesday in a Game 7 thriller.

Thompson admitted that he has no idea about the extent of his injury but hopes that he will be healthy enough to represent the country on the international stage. The SBP, however, pulled the plug and decided to give him a break in favor of Gomez de Liaño.

“Well, I don’t know yet (the extent of the injury), but it’s my hamstring. I don’t know yet, so I’ll get an MRI after this,” Thompson said following Ginebra’s 88-76 best-of-seven title series-clincher in front of a roaring 24,617-strong crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena.

With Thompson out, Gilas coach Tim Cone will have only three Ginebra players in naturalized Brownlee, RJ Abarrientos and Troy Rosario in the national roster.

Hoping to end a two-game losing skid, Gilas took in athletic young forwards Mike Phillips and Justine Baltazar to reinforce holdovers June Mar Fajardo, AJ Edu, Kevin Quiambao, Carl Tamayo, Chris Newsome and Dwight Ramos.

Thompson, who dropped a near triple-double of 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in powering Ginebra to end a three-year championship drought for the franchise’s 16th title overall, is expected to use his break to rest and recuperate for the opening of the Governors’ Cup on 10 July.

Gilas has been practicing since Wednesday and will hold an open workout on Monday.

The team will leave for Auckland on Tuesday for a one-week training camp to acclimatize to the cold weather.

Gilas holds a 2-2 win-loss record, tied with New Zealand in Group A. Australia is unbeaten in four outings, while Guam is winless in four games.