Lacking in size, the Gilas Pilipinas national men’s basketball team will make the necessary adjustments with players who are available next week for the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup.
And they will most likely include Japan B.League veterans Thirdy Ravena and Bobby Ray Parks Jr. in the roster when action begins on July 12 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
“We are in a situation that we are playing unbalanced as a team. We don’t really have enough size, enough big guys that we can rotate,” said Gilas coach Nenad Vucinic after Gilas pulled off a 79-63 win over an inexperienced India side on Sunday.
Team Philippines’ final win in Group A allowed Gilas to finish second place at the end of the third window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Filipinos, playing with only 10 men, leaned much on Dwight Ramos (21 points) on the scoring end and finished their Group A stint with a 2-2 win-loss record.
In this game, Geo Chiu (6’9”) and William Navarro (6’6”) served as the Gilas’ big men.
“We are playing William Navarro out of position as a big guy, so it is difficult because of the composition of the team,” said Vucinic.
India still made it to Group E in the second round of the qualifiers with the Philippines and New Zealand, along with Lebanon (4-1), Saudi Arabia (3-2), and Jordan (3-2). The Philippines has reached the second round as one of the pre-qualified host teams, regardless of the first round results and standings.
The fourth window will be from August 25 to 29 and for now, Vucinic feels that reinforcements from the Philippine Basketball Association can be called on by then.
For now, 7’3” Filipino center Kai Sotto won’t be available when they see action in Indonesia.
But Gilas Pilipinas program director Chot Reyes hopes that Sotto can be around on the fourth window in August.
The coaching staff, according to Reyes, is studying the possibility of having TNT Tropang Giga big men Poy Erram or Kelly Williams to be around with Gilas when their elimination-round campaign in the PBA Philippine Cup ends on July 10.