Japeth available for Gilas

MANILA, Philippines — Japeth Aguilar may be included in the Gilas lineup for the game against Hong Kong in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifying window on Feb. 22 with the final decision on the 12-man roster to be made during the technical meeting the day before the contest at the Tsuen Wan Sports Centre.

Aguilar has joined the Gilas training camp at Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba and will leave with the team for Hong Kong on Tuesday. Coach Tim Cone opened camp last Thursday as scheduled.  Of the initial 12 players named for the coming window, only San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez were expected to report yesterday or today. They played in Game Six of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last Wednesday.

Checked in at Inspire are Scottie Thompson, Calvin Oftana, Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, Carl Tamayo, Kevin Quiambao, Chris Newsome, Jamie Malonzo, Justin Brownlee and Kai Sotto. Edu is recovering from surgery for a torn meniscus and his spot will likely be taken by Aguilar. Also in camp are Barangay Ginebra players LA Tenorio, Ralph Cu and Donald Gumaru.

“LA, Cu and Gumaru are helping out since they already know Coach Tim’s system,” said Gilas team manager and concurrent lead assistant coach Richard del Rosario. “LA will not be a part of the coaching staff for this window. Japeth is on the list (of players) but we will finalize lineups during the technical meeting.”

There was talk that Rhenz Abando and Mason Amos would be recruited as reserves but neither is at Inspire. Abando is still recuperating from a bad fall during a recent Korean league game. Aside from Del Rosario, Cone’s assistant coaches are Jong Uichico, Josh Reyes and Patrick Partosa.