By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gilas Pilipinas began its build up for the 2023 FIBA World Cup with 14 players attending the brief closed-door session at the Meralco Gym on Wednesday, June 7.
According to team manager Butch Antonio, June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar, RR Pogoy, Poy Erram and Chris Newsome were the PBA players present while B.League players Kiefer Ravena, Thirdy Ravena, Bobby Ray Parks, Carl Tamayo, and KBL import Rhenz Abando were also in attendance.
Naturalized player Ange Kouame and young big man Aj Edu completed the cast in Gilas first day of practice.
The team, however, didn’t proceed to its full training with some of the attendees still resting and nursing some injuries.
Fajardo and Aguilar are still recovering from their respective MCL injuries while the TNT trio of RR Pogoy (finger), Calvin Oftana (calf) and Poi Erram (ankle) are likewise nursing injuries.
Even Kouame has yet to fully recover after going under the knife early this year to repair a partial ACL tear.
Antonio also shared that practice will resume on Monday and the other resting players are expected to attend.
Justin Brownlee is also scheduled to return to the country next week from the US where he attended the graduation of his son.
NBA star Jordan Clarkson, on the other hand, is expected to rejoin Gilas six weeks before the competition fires off in August while Kai Sotto is also still in the US for numerous training camps with NBA teams
