GILAS Pilipinas will rely exclusively on Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) players for the 20th Asian Games in Japan next month, featuring no overseas-based Filipino cagers on its roster.
Head coach Tim Cone said that none of the overseas Filipino players will be able to join the Philippine contingent in Nagoya, Japan for the Sept. 10 to 20 basketball wars.
The regular Filipino overseas players, who are playing in Korea and Japan leagues, are not in the Gilas lineup for the Asiad. They are Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, Quentin Millora-Brown, Jamie Malonzo, Kai Sotto, Carl Tamayo, and Kevin Quiambao.
“None of the Japan and Korean players can play in the Asian Games, so we just decided to pretty much bring an all-PBA contingent to the Asiad along with Justin (Brownlee),” said Cone in an article posted on PBA website.
Naturalized player candidate Bennie Boatwright is in consideration, but it depends on whether he’ll be able to finally secure his Philippine passport prior to the tournament.
“So aside from that, it’s going to be Justin and an all-PBA team,” added Cone.
An all-PBA squad has already proven it can conquer the Asiad stage. In the 2023 Hangzhou Games, head coach Tim Cone guided Gilas Pilipinas to a historic gold medal—defeating Jordan 70-60 in the final to snap the country’s 61-year championship drought.
That fairytale run was highlighted by a miraculous semifinal comeback against host China. Down by 20 points, Gilas rode Justin Brownlee’s explosive shooting to pull off a dramatic 77-76 thriller and secure a spot in the final. / RSC
