By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gilas Pilipinas is set to play Taiwan Mustangs – a team that has reportedly signed NBA veterans Dwight Howard, Demarcus Cousins and Quin Cook – as part of its preparations for the FIBA Olympic Qualifiers in Riga, Latvia in July.
It was still unclear whether the former NBA stars would be playing for the Mustangs but the game set on Monday, June 24 will be open and free to the public
The game will also serve as the official send-off for the Nationals before they fly to Europe the next day on June 25 to play two more tuneup games against Turkey and Poland to try and get a feel of facing off against European teams.
Gilas is grouped with world No. 6 and hosts Latvia and 21st ranked Georgia. The Filipinos play first the Georgian team bannered by NBA big man Goga Bitadze of the Orlando Magic on July 4 before taking on the hometown bets Latvian expected to be led by Kristaps Porzingis of the 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics.
Heading Gilas is Justin Brownlee along with Ginebra teammates Scottie Thompson and Japeth Aguilar, newly crowned PBA champion Finals MVP Chris Newsome and his title rivals CJ Perez and June Mar Fajardo.
Also in the team are Calvin Oftana, Kevin Quiambao, Carl Tamayo, and Kai Sotto Dwight Ramos and Mason Amos.
AJ Edu who is still dealing with a nagging knee injury and Jamie Malonzo, recovering from a calf tear are players not available for the window.
Brownlee is already back in the country after his stint with Indonesian team Pelita Jaya for the Basketball Champions League in time for the start of Gilas practice on Friday, June 21 at the Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna.
Gilas head coach Tim Cone is expecting a complete attendance from the team, including those who have played in the recently concluded Philippine Cup Finals.
They will spend the next two days of training, getting a refresher of the Cone’s system especially that the last time that Gilas played together was already three months ago when the Nationals swept its assignments against Hong Kong and Taiwan in the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers last February.
