Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone is sticking with a lean 12-man roster with no reserves for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup erupting next week.
Cone and the rest of his crew departed for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Wednesday night but left behind forward Troy Rosario and guard RJ Abarrientos, cutting his work short of selecting his final lineup for the prestigious continental cage wars running from 5 to 17 August.
Naturalized player Justin Brownlee leads the crack Gilas squad, aiming to end a 40-year title drought, unveiled by Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).
Joining Brownlee are center June Mar Fajardo, AJ Edu, Dwight Ramos, Scottie Thompson, Jamie Malonzo, Chris Newsome, Carl Tamayo, CJ Perez, AJ Edu, Japeth Aguilar, Kevin Quiambao and Calvin Oftana, who just got his green light to play after spraining both his ankles during TNT’s Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup campaign.
Fajardo, who is nursing a calf injury, and Oftana skipped Gilas’ 103-98 win over the Macau Black Bears in a send-off tune up match last Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Rosario and Abarrientos joined the team in its two-week training and even suited up for the friendly although Rosario did not get to see action on the floor.
The Barangay Ginebra duo was supposed to be Cone’s choices for an alternate in case Oftana is deemed unavailable due to his health condition.
Gilas arrived in the mineral-rich kingdom at the heart of the Middle East a week before kicking off its title bid in Group D against familiar foes Chinese Taipei and New Zealand along with Iraq.
The early check-in would allow Cone to fine-tune Gilas’ game and chemistry, especially with the likes of Perez coming in late because of his San Miguel Beer duties, while his teammate Fajardo and Oftana missed the team’s local training entirely.
“Getting a (longer) practice time is crucial,” Cone said.
“But like I said, I’d like to have a practice time with June Mar. It’s really important that we adjust to his presence.”
Gilas will play Chinese Taipei on 6 August, New Zealand on the 8th and Iraq on the 10th.
The top three teams in each of the groups will advance into the next round with the top squad earning an outright quarterfinals seat.
The second and third rank teams will battle in the knockout playoffs for a place in the Last 8.