By: REYNALD MAGALLON
The training pool, from which the final 12 players will be chosen to bear the hopes and prayers of this basketball-crazy nation, has been unveiled.
NBA star Jordan Clarkson and fellow naturalized player Justin Brownlee headlined the Gilas Pilipinas 21-man pool for the 2023 FIBA World Cup in August.
Head coach Chot Reyes has put premium on height, speed and familiarity with the pool boasting a mix of local PBA stars and overseas Filipino imports that had already seen action with the national team during past tournaments like the FIBA Asia Cup and the qualifying windows.
Joining Clarkson and Brownlee as part of the Gilas options for the naturalized player spot is Ange Kouame who will join the former Batang Gilas twin towers in Kai Sotto and AJ Edu along with six-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo and Gilas mainstay Japeth Aguilar in the team frontlines.
Also part of the pool are Aguilar’s Ginebra teammates in Jamie Malonzo and Scottie Thompson, TNT’s Poy Erram, Calvin Oftana and RR Pogoy, Meralco’s Chris Newsome and San Miguel’s CJ Perez.
B.League imports Dwight Ramos, Kiefer and Thirdy Ravena, Ray Parks Jr. Jordan Heading and Carl Tamayo and KBL import Rhenz Abando complete the cast.
The national team is expected to begin their formal training camp on Wednesday, June 7 with European training camps in Estonia, Lithuania and possibly Latvia all part of the two-month build up for the World Cup.
Gilas is drawn in Group A in the preliminaries joining Angola, Dominican Republic and Italy. The Nationals will need to finish at least in the top 2 spot at the end of the group stage to advance to the next round and hopefully boost its chance of becoming best placed Asian team to directly qualify to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
