Lassiter still hoping to join Gilas

MANILA, Philippines - Marcio Lassiter is eager to know Gilas Pilipinas’ time frame on his possible reentry in the pool as the Fil-Am gunner is about to return to training, determined to get into game shape the soonest he can.

“He’s never pulled out of Gilas. As he’s to work to regain his strength, he wants to know the window period Gilas is giving him to catch up,” said Marvin Espiritu, Lassiter’s agent/handler.

“Once cleared by his doctor, that’s the only time he’ll start running. It might be pointless for Marcio to fly to Europe. That’s why he wants to know when is the earliest and the latest he’s allowed to rejoin Gilas,” Espiritu added.

For health reasons, Lassiter was scratched from the 14-man Gilas pool that left Friday night for a nine-day boot camp in Karpenisi, Greece.

Team manager Butch Antonio, however, said they’re leaving the Gilas door open on Lassiter if he can catch up in Karpenisi. The Gilas pool will be in that Evrytania region capital for high-altitude training from June 12-19.

“We’re in talks with Butch and we await words from him. He’s conferring with coach Tab. As of now, it’s status quo,” said Espiritu.

“The circumstances didn’t favor Marcio. If Gilas is not training abroad, I think there wouldn’t have been a problem. But they’ll be away for three weeks. On their return, it’s only a week before the start of the tourney,” Espiritu also said.

With Lassiter left in the country, Gilas has Andray Blatche, June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Ranidel de Ocampo, Marc Pingris, Troy Rosario, Gabe Norwood, Calvin Abueva, Jeff Chan, Bobby Ray Parks, Jayson Castro, Terrence Romeo, LA Tenorio and Ryan Reyes as the 14 players to gut it out in preparation for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the MOA Arena on July 5-10.

“Marcio lost about 10 pounds and he’s only 70 percent of his game shape. He feels he can recover in a week’s time. But again, the question is if he still can catch up with Gilas,” said Espiritu.