
Gilas Pilipinas finally gets to see action in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Friday, Feb. 25 when it takes on India at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The national cagers face the Indian squad at 6 p.m. a day after winning their match against South Korea by forfeiture due to the latter’s decision to pull out of the window due to COVID-19 concerns.
South Korea’s absence, however, has forced coach Chot Reyes to make some changes in his lineup decisions, saying that he has now opted to field the same 12 players for the two remaining matches, including Sunday’s match with New Zealand.
“With four games, I was very confident and had a pretty good idea on how to play all 15 roster. Now with two games, admittedly that’s going to be a problem,” Reyes said.
The fifteen who are inside the FIBA bubble are NorthPort’s Robert Bolick, TNT’s TNT players RR Pogoy, Troy Rosario, Poy Erram, Kelly Williams, Gab Banal and Kib Montalbo, B.League cagers Thirdy Ravena and Dwight Ramos and Gilas players Ange Kouame, Juan Gomez de Liano, Will Navarro, Jaydee Tungcab, Tzaddy Rangel and LeBron Lopez.
Pogoy may see action for Gilas after missing the last four games in the PBA Governors’ Cup when he hurt his calf during practice.
Ravena and Ramos, who have spent the past months playing overseas for their Japanese clubs, will get a chance to play in front of their fans while Kelly Williams is set for a national team comeback after a lengthy absence.
Banal and Montalbo, role players under Reyes at TNT, are also expected to play their first game representing the flag on the senior level.
India is smarting from a 101-46 loss to New Zealand the previous day, but is keen on scoring an upset win.
Princepal Singh, a teammate of Kai Sotto during their time with the G-League Ignite, and veterans Amritpal Singh and Vishesh Bhriguvanshi are among the prominent players on India’s lineup.
“They're a tall team, well coached and they've been together for a long time. A couple of guys there, we've seen them for 10 to 11 years, so they've been together for a decade already,” Reyes said.