GILAS Pilipinas has gathered to resume training even if it will not be seeing action in the first window of the 2023 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers.
Naturalized center Ange Kouame headlined the 16-man pool which took part in the practice sessions at Moro Lorenzo Sports Center in Katipunan since last week to kick off preparations for February 2022 qualifiers in Clark.
"The team has started with their individual skills training and they're meeting thrice a week. We're still in schedule with our preparations," said Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) special assistant to the president Ryan Gregorio.
Special Gilas draftees led by Isaac Go, Rey Suerte, Mike Nieto, William Navarro, Jaydee Tungcab, and Tzaddy Rangel are all present in the sessions supervised by head coach and concurrent project head Tab Baldwin.
Matt Nieto (broken hand) and Allyn Bulanadi (dislocated shoulder) have also rejoined the training after dealing with injuries. Also called back were Belgrade OQT members Justine Baltazar, SJ Belangel, and Carl Tamayo.
Gilas new faces
Ateneo's Dave Ildefonso, Geo Chiu, Jason Credo were also invited anew, while St. Benilde center Ladis Lepalam has been added to the squad.
Jordan Heading, who recently signed with the Taichung Suns in the T1 League in Taiwan, was notably absent in the list.
Nonetheless, Gilas is bracing for a busy 2022 with the Asian qualifiers windows first off come February, where the Philippines will play its fellow Group A teams Korea twice, as well as New Zealand and India inside the Clark bubble.
Also part of the grueling schedule for Team Philippines are the Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam set in May, the 2022 Fiba Asia Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia scheduled in July, and the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games in September.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
