Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
    View Today
    Sun, Nov 5

    With Dave I out, Nenad hoping help will come for 'unbalanced' Gilas team

    Vucinic talks about difficulty of coaching a team that lacks depth in all positions
    Jul 4, 2022
    Dave Ildefonso, Gilas
    PHOTO: Jerome Ascano

    DAVE Ildefonso is out of the Gilas Pilipinas pool for the 2022 Fiba Asia Cup.

    Gilas Pilipinas coach Nenad Vucinic bared the news after the Ateneo guard once again missed out on Sunday's 79-63 win over India due to knee issues.

    "He will not go to the Asia Cup," he said after the Philippines once again deployed only 10 men for the home match at Mall of Asia Arena.

    [See Gilas runs away with win over India]

    With Ildefonso out, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) needs to fill at least two spots in the Indonesia-bound team, with Thirdy Ravena and Bobby Ray Parks among the names being thrown around.

    "Right now, I'm not sure if we're gonna have more than 10 players but we're hoping for that. We're hoping that guys like Thirdy Ravena and possibly Ray Parks would join the team. It's good to have a full 12," said Vucinic.

    Yet the most pressing matter for Gilas is its frontline as it played the third window with Geo Chiu as the only legit center and without any naturalized players after Ange Kouame went down with a partial ACL tear.

    MORE FROM SPIN
    MORE FROM SPIN

      Program director Chot Reyes earlier said that there's a high chance that bigs from TNT Tropang Giga will reinforce the national team, although as of now, nothing's final.

      For now, Vucinic said that he's just trying to make do with what Gilas has.

      "Look, we are in a situation that we are playing a little bit unbalanced as a team. We don't really have enough size, have enough big guys that we can rotate. We're playing Will Navarro out of position as a big guy," he said.

      "It is difficult because of the composition of the team. We don't expect, really, anymore help on the big men position because the PBA is being played and we cannot get any players there for this tournament.

      ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓

      "But we cannot think about that anymore. We have played in the same lineup for the last month as well, and we have to continue to try to find the ways to make up for the lack of size, and that probably has to go on the defensive end."

      Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

      Read Next
      Watch Now
      Sorry, no results found for
      PHOTO: Jerome Ascano
    • POLL

      • Quiz

        Quiz Result