Jones Cup tough stint earns Cruz Final 12 spot

MANILA, Philippines -  From being a mere walk-in aspirant that made the 2015 FEU champion team, Carl Bryan Cruz has made a tremendous stride in his career, crashing into the elite Gilas Pilipinas team that vies in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in Beirut on Aug. 8-20.

Cruz, 25, is the surprise entry in the Final 12, getting the nod of the Gilas coaching staff following his worthy showing in the recent Jones Cup.

June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer, Japeth Aguilar of Barangay Ginebra, Terrence Romeo of GlobalPort, Star’s Jio Jalalon, Phoenix Petroleum’s Matthew Wright, Alaska’s Calvin Abueva, Rain or Shine’s Raymond Almazan and TNT KaTropa’s Jayson Castro and RR Pogoy are all holdovers from the SEABA team.

Through Instagram, Andray Blatche has issued an apology on why he would not be able to join Gilas in the Lebanon meet.

“I will always be very thankful for the opportunity, the love, and the support I have received from my Filipino family, but it’s a lot of reason why I can’t join and I don’t expect for many people to understand,” said Blatche. “But I do wish my brothers the best of luck.”

Fil-German Christian Standhardinger has taken over Blatche’s spot while Gabe Norwood is making a comeback as a Gilas player.

Reyes had hinted Norwood is seeded in the Asia Cup team when he submitted their 24-man roster to FIBA Asia.

Cruz, meanwhile, is filling in for Allein Maliksi who, sources said, had to be dropped because of the PBA’s one-player-per-team policy in lending players to Gilas.

Agreeing to release two players are TNT KaTropa, Rain or Shine and Alaska Milk.

Gilas has yet to make an official statement, but it looks like Standhardinger and Cruz are bound to suit up with the national team in both the Asia Cup and in the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

If Gilas reaches the Asia Cup Final Four, Standhardinger and Cruz will miss Team Phl’s opening game in the SEAG versus Thailand on Aug. 20 – the closing day of the Lebanon meet where the gold-medal match and the bronze-medal tiff are to be played.

Standhardinger and Cruz are in the SEAG lineup with Troy Rosario, Baser Amer, Almond Vosotros, Kevin Ferrer, Kiefer Ravena, Ray Ray Parks, Mike Tolomia, Von Pessumal, Raymar Jose and Kobe Paras.

Cruz is one of six players fielded in all nine games by Gilas coach Chot Reyes in the Jones Cup, the others being Standhardinger, Ravena, Jalalon, Wright and Mike Myers.

The Alaska Milk rookie ended up as the sixth best scorer with an average of 7.2 points with a remarkable 40-percent three-point shooting.

The 2015 FEU champion squad has four other contributions in the current Gilas pool in Belo, Pogoy, Tolomia, Jose and the injury-stricken Russell Escoto.