By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gilas Pilipinas is set to convene for its first practice in three months in preparation for the first window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at the Blue Eagle Gym.
National team head coach Tim Cone said PBA players who are part of the pool are expected to attend on the first day of training for the pair of home-and-away games against Guam, first on the road on Nov. 28 and then later at home on Dec. 1.
The veteran mentor said the team will also be training at the Upper Deck gym before it opens camp at the Inspire Sports Academy on the 21st and 23rd.
New additions Quentin Millora-Brown and Juan Gomez de Liano will also be attending alongside original members June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, Calvin Oftana, Chris Newsome, Scottie Thompson and Japeth Aguilar.
Reserves Troy Rosario and RJ Abarrientos are also coming in especially to provide warm bodies in practice with overseas players expected to miss the first few days of practices as their respective leagues have yet to release them for the FIBA break.
“We’re going to be missing Kevin and Carl. Because they have not finished. Korea has not released them yet. And they’ll be coming in a couple of days late,” said Cone.
“And then AJ is getting married. And he’s going to miss most of the preparation. He’ll be there for the games. I think he’s arriving the day before we leave for Guam. So those three guys, we will be missing,” he added.
Cone said there will be no tuneup game or exhibitions as the coaching staff opted to focus on the training and integration of new members Gomez de Liano and Millora-Brown to the triangle system.
“We had India coming in but they backed out. Indonesia volunteered to come in but we felt that we’d be better off just really getting in practices,” explained Cone.
“There’s a QMB we want to see. He has a lot to learn. Juan now that we’ve added him. Practices are crucial for us at this point,” he added.
