GILAS Pilipinas Womens may have lost Clare Castro for the 2019 Fiba Women's Asia Cup, but it still has able bodies up front.
And for Jack Animam, as tough as the situation is, the Filipinas have no other recourse than to step up and make up for that deficiency.
"Mahirap na nawala yung frontcourt partner ko, pero nangyari na. So we have to step up big," she said.
Without the 6-foot-4 Castro, who begged off from the national team owing to her academics and responsibilities with the FEU Lady Tamaraws, coach Pat Aquino and the rest of Gilas Womens have been working tirelessly to make the necessary adjustments before the team leaves for Bangalore, India.
"It's been hard for us to really adjust without Clare. For the past ilang months, kasama namin siya and then all of a sudden, mawawala siya. Kailangang kailangan ko talaga ng bigs and as much as possible, naga-adjust ulit kami ngayon," said the decorated mentor.
Animam and Kelli Hayes will be tasked to man the paint for Gilas Womens, with Aquino also counting on Danica Jose and Eunique Chan making their contributions to the frontcourt.
It also means that combo-guards like Afril Bernardino and Gemma Miranda will also be to take on the forward spots as every one will have to play at a bigger position in the tilt from September 24 to 29.
"Panibangong adjustment na naman ang ginagawa namin aside from the plays and how to play defense, lalo na ang kalaban mo Australia, China at New Zealand. Sabi ko lang, lets try to focus on the things we have right now," said Aquino.
Animam believes that the Filipinas have what it takes to stay in Division A as long as they stay within the system.
"Lahat kami kailangan mag-adjust. Lahat kami kailangan mag-contribute at kailangan talaga lumabas yung teamwork namin para magawa namin yung dapat gawin at mapunan namin yung nawala with Clare," she said.
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