GILAS Pilipinas will play with an all-Filipino line-up for the two games in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers this week.
Head coach Tim Cone said there is no plan to fill the naturalization spot for Gilas Pilipinas in the games against Jordan on Friday and Iran on Sunday in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers following news that Justin Brownlee will skip the coming window due to multiple injuries.
Other naturalized prospects are also unavailable including Bennie Boatwright, who has yet to secure a Filipino passport with the bill that sought for his naturalization still not enacted into law.
READ: Justin Brownlee still out of coming Gilas WC qualifying window
“In the meantime, we couldn’t get Bennie Boatwright his papers,” Cone said during Monday’s Gilas Pilipinas press conference. “He still doesn’t have his passport. He hasn’t had his final approval yet. We haven’t been able to get that done.
“Our other naturalized player that we would have brought, Ange Kouame, he is in France under contract," he continued.
“So we are going to be attending this window all-Filipino."
Despite the absence of a naturalized player, Cone said Gilas Pilipinas has enough pieces for a competitive team going into their two important games in the World Cup qualifiers where they will look to improve on their 2-4 win-loss record.
The presence of Kai Sotto for this window strengthens Cone’s belief that Gilas won’t be affected by Brownlee’s absence.
“With Kai here, June Mar (Fajardo), and AJ (Edu), we feel we have the requisite size to be successful in this window,” Cone said.
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