WITH Quentin Millora-Brown expected to come in the picture for a spot in the national team roster, Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone paid tribute to Japeth Aguilar for stepping in to help the squad in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025.
Cone said the absence of Kai Sotto due to an ACL injury forced him to convince the 38-year-old Aguilar to join the national squad for added size in the Asia Cup.
READ: Cone likens QMB addition to Gilas getting the No. 1 draft pick
Cone admitted it took a lot of convincing for Aguilar to agree to join the team.
“What a warrior he is,” said Cone of Aguilar, during the Power and Play program of Noli Eala. “And he didn’t want to go to this tournament.”
“I begged and begged and begged him to come because we just felt like we just didn’t have enough size to compete without Kai there. And so I begged him to come and he stepped up and came again. His wife didn’t want him to come. There was all kinds of issues going on and yet he still stepped up and came and played,” said Cone.
The Barangay Ginebra big man, who played in the FIBA Basketball World Cup three times in his career, played four games with Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA Asia Cup and totaled four points, three rebounds, one assist, and one block.
It was his fifth, and perhaps final FIBA Asia Cup campaign for Aguilar with Gilas Pilipinas.
He started in 2009 in Tianjin, and played in 2011 during the Smart Gilas days of Serbian head coach Rajko Toroman.
He also played for Gilas Pilipinas in 2013 when the country hosted and booked a place in the World Cup, and in 2017 in Lebanon.
“My hats off to Japeth. He just responds to the country, even though he has asked to retire three times already,” said Cone.
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