BRIEF as their experience was with Gilas Pilipinas earlier this year, brothers Juan and Javi Gomez de Liano admit that they have learned a lot in their short time with the seniors team.
"For me, it was an amazing experience," Juan told The Prospects Pod. "To just be surrounded by great teammates, great players, and also such an incredible coaching staff, ako personally what I did was just learn and try to get better in my game."
Javi added: "I really learned a lot from playing with PBA pros."
The brothers were part of the youth infusion in the revamped Gilas pool under new Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) program director Tab Baldwin.
The group, which was a mix of PBA stars and top collegiate standouts, were supposed to be the foundation of what the SBP envisioned as a dynamic national team for the 2023 Fiba World Cup.

Only Juan made interim coach Mark Dickel's 12-man roster for Indonesia. The 6-foot-2 guard did not disappoint as he tallied 10 points, two assists, and one rebound in 11 minutes of action in the Philippines' 100-70 win in the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers last February.
The global COVID-19 pandemic shelved the second game of the first window of the qualifiers against Thailand, but the Gomez de Lianos hope to be part of Gilas teams in the future.
After all, being part of the national team pool was the main reason why they opted to skip University of the Philippines' campaign in the next UAAP season.
"It was actually my first time being called up to the Gilas pool, so that opportunity pa lang is really a big blessing for me," said the 6-foot-4 Javi. "Even though I didn’t make the cut, I really learned a lot and looking forward to get back and train with the pool again soon."
Juan echoed his older brother's sentiments.
"Just having the chance to compete at such a high level was great. Kasi ako personally, na-challenge ako kasi ka-match up ko yung guys like Kiefer (Ravena)," said the UAAP Season 80 Rookie of the Year.
"Of course, what I wanna do is prove na I really belong in this team. All in all it was really a great experience for me."
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