Gilas sticks to 11-man roster

MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas will not be adding a 12th player to its undermanned roster for the third window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, promising to still wage an all-out fight with only 11 players on deck.

Coach Nenad Vucinic, who will continue to handle the squad after a string of friendly games against South Korea last week, said the 11-man roster is a go due to the rigid process of acquiring a New Zealand visa for a player to complete the cast.

“I think we will go with what we have,” said Vucinic as Gilas took a blow following the injury of naturalized player Ange Kouame (meniscal sprain and partial ACL tear), who is part of the original roster.

Gilas, with a 1-1 record in Pool A, goes on the road against New Zealand (3-0) in Auckland on June 30 before hosting India (0-3) at the Mall of Asia Arena on July 3.

Skipper Kiefer Ravena will banner the young squad with versatile bigs Carl Tamayo, Kevin Quiambao, Geo Chiu and Will Navarro as well as RJ Abarrientos, SJ Belangel, Rhenz Abando, Lebron Lopez and Dwight Ramos.

Dave Ildefonso, who missed the two tune-up games against South Korea, will bolster the squad after recovering from an ankle injury.

It will be a tall order for the younger but undersized Gilas especially without the 6-foot-10 Kouame. But Vucinic is optimistic on the capability of the valiant squad.

“It’s very hard to replace size but we’re very pleased with how our bigs performed guys like Geo, Kevin and Carl. It’s gonna be a very difficult task obviously going to New Zealand with a limited number of big players but we intend to play hard and hopefully play well,” he said.

Gilas bowed to New Zealand last February in the Manila window, 88-63, after trouncing India, 88-64, to split its campaign so far in Pool A without South Korea that was disqualified by FIBA for failing to send a team due to COVID-19 issues.

South Korea, despite being out of World Cup contention, hosted the Philippines in two tune-up games, which Vucinic is also hoping to work wonders for Gilas against New Zealand and India.

“It’s easy to look for excuses but we really have to find a way. I think we did find a way. Korea is a very good team in terms of offensive execution and shooting ability. They also have size. But we held our own I think,” he said after Gilas’ close losses, 96-92 and 106-102.

The Philippines as the main host is already through to the World Cup, making the Qualifiers as part of its long buildup.