Ravena rejoins national pool

MANILA,Philippines — NLEX guard Kiefer Ravena may get his chance to score a five-peat in the Southeast Asian Games after all.

This as Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone named Ravena to his 15-man pool as late replacement for injured playmaker Jayson Castro.

Ravena, a member the Phl teams that won the men’s basketball gold in the last four SEAGs, made his first appearance for Cone’s pool Monday night, intently observing on the bench when the Nationals grinded it past Alab Pilipinas, 98-95, in a closed-door tuneup.

“We are going to miss Jayson terribly, but Kiefer has some of that Jayson ability in him. We’re going to lose the experience of Jayson but Kiefer got that rare maturity that kind of ability to play with a bunch of vets and still be a leader and still do the things that he needs to do,” said Cone. “I think he’s kind of rare that way.”

A minor back injury prevented Ravena from taking part in the friendly yet but he’s expected to join their next practice and plunge into action in Round 2 of Gilas-Alab on Monday.

“Hopefully I can join practice and be able to… I wouldn’t say replace but to step in for a while for Kuya Jayson,” said Ravena

“This is my moment to absorb everything that I can in terms of learning a lot from coach Tim. We spoke a lot earlier, (told me) just try to learn from the best. I watched the game and tried to be with them as much as I can, being mentally present so when practice comes, they won’t have to adjust to me,” he added.

Gilas banked on June Mar Fajardo’s 12-point explosion in the fourth quarter to survive Alab. Fajardo finished with a game-high 21, his three-point play in the last 43 seconds sealing it for the Nationals while RR Pogoy shot 15.

Louie Vigil, Fajardo’s SMB teammate who’s on loan to Alab, paced the ABL team with 18 with Brandon Roser adding 17.

Cone said the SEAG-bound squad isn’t quite there yet.  

“At this point, we’re still an all-star team. We need to be better than that. All-star teams aren’t very good. They’re not a good team; they’re a collection of players but they’re not a good team. We need to be a good team,” said Cone. “Whether we can do that in the short window that we have is gonna be our biggest challenge.”

Meanwhile, embattled San Miguel aims to get back on track and stay inside the Top 4 of the PBA Governors’ Cup as it battles new-look Blackwater in today’s opening game at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Defending champion Magnolia, meanwhile, unleashes trade acquisition Chris Banchero as it eyes a fifth win versus Phoenix in the nightcap.