Head coach Tim Cone has already accepted that he’ll be fielding an all-Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) team in Gilas Pilipinas’ title defense at the coming Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games next month.

With the Asiad not being sanctioned by FIBA, clubs of overseas-based Filipino players have the option not to release them for the 10 September to 20 October men’s basketball competition.

This means Japan B.League players like Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, Mike Phillips, Jamie Malonzo and Quentin Millora-Brown and Korean Basketball League imports Carl Tamayo and Kevin Quiambao won’t be available for Gilas’ bid to win back-to-back mints.

“None of the Japan or Korean players can play in the Asian Games. So, we just decided that we would pretty much bring an all-PBA contingent for the Asian Games along with Justin (Brownlee),” Cone said.

The PBA is currently on a nine-week pause of hostilities in the Season 50 Governors’ Cup to give way to Gilas’ major international stints, including the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifier fourth window hosting on 28 August against Jordan and on the 30th against Iran,

Gilas will begin its closed-door training Sunday at the San Miguel Corporation training facility in Pasig City.

Naturalized player Brownlee is set to arrive tonight from the US after weeks of recuperating from a hamstring injury.

Cone also hinted at the possibility of adding naturalization candidate Bennie Boatwright to the roster if he obtains his Philippine passport on time.

“We were hoping that Benny would be alright to play in the Asian Games,” he said.

“(But) that looks very doubtful at this point. But we’re still holding on to hope. But aside from that, it’s going to be Justin and all PBA teams.”

Gilas also banked on PBA stars back in 2023 when the Philippines ended a 61-year Asiad gold medal drought in Hangzhou, China with a 70-60 win in the finals against Jordan.

The squad is set to fly to South Korea on 3 September for a training camp and a pair of friendlies against the Korean national team before heading to Nagoya.

Gilas is in Pool C with Bahrain, Kazakhstan and China, which the Pinoy cagers beat in a memorable semifinal win, 77-76, after coming back from a 20-point deficit behind Brownlee’s heroics.