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It’s no secret that Gilas Pilipinas will not arrive fully armed for the November window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers in Manama, Bahrain.
“The team is young and inexperienced. That is why we are trying to keep things as simple as possible, things that the players can understand, ” Gilas Pilipinas coach Jong Uichico said during Thursday’s virtual press conference hosted by Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
The team will look every inch like a varsity team, with its core comprised of Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) recruits who have yet to play a single career outing: Allyn Bulanadi, Rey Suerte, Isaac Go, and twins Matt and Mike. Grandchild. Also selected for the Kobe Paras team were Juan Gómez de Liaño and the NCAA MVP Calvin Oftana de San Beda. They will be joined by Justine Baltazar, Javi Gomez de Liaño from the University of the Philippines, Will Navarro from Ateneo, Dave Ildefonso and Dwight Ramos, Kenmark Carino from San Beda and Jaydee Tungcab.
With the pros removed from the roster due to the PBA bubble and current group members have yet to play as a team, Gilas Pilipinas will be struggling to get in shape for the November 26-30 playoffs.
Even Gilas Pilipinas’ project manager Tab Baldwin is tempering expectations.
“We don’t think they are ready for battle. We are concerned about what we cannot do given the deadlines and the fact that these players come personally ill-prepared no matter how hard they have tried for eight months, ” said the Ateneo’s head coach.
“They are willing and hard-working students, so that’s a positive thing we can look forward to. We hope we can get that chemistry asap, ” Uichico said.
The last 12 to be equipped for the team will be revealed before the team departs for Bahrain on Sunday.
“We are trying to build chemistry as a team. We have to adjust and learn how our opponents compete, ” said Matt Nieto. “We just have to follow the system of our coaches and good decisions will be followed on the court.”
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