GILAS Pilipinas finally came out with its 12-man roster for the coming Olympic Qualifying Tournament, with young Lebron Lopez the last player to be cut.
Tab Baldwin and his coaching staff named Kai Sotto, Isaac Go, Jordan Heading, Geo Chu, Dwight Ramos, Mike Nieto, SJ Belangel, William Navarro, Justine Baltazar, RJ Abarrientos, Carl Tamayo, and naturalized player Ange Kouam to the team that will compete in the June 29 to July 4 qualifier in Serbia.
The team leaves for the Serbian capital of Belgrade Thursday night for the July 1 game against Serbia and a match against Dominican Republic the following day.
Despite being left out, Baldwin stressed Lopez remains very much a big part of the Gilas Pilipinas training pool moving forward.
"Lebron's growth and development has been outstanding to this point and there is every expectation that it will continue as he will certainly remain a part of the Gilas pool," said the national team head coach.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) added the young athletic guard is definitely a talent that is always welcome in the Gilas process.
"At this stage and with the strict FIBA protocols, it is very challenging to bring Lebron to Serbia for the experience of being a part of the travelling pool and learning more from his more experienced Gilas brothers," according to Special Assistant to the SBP president Ryan Gregorio.
Aside from Lopez, earlier cut from the team for the OQT campaign were Jaydee Tungcab and Javi Gomez De Liano.
The team will be taking off at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at around 9:30 p.m. on board Turkish Airlines.
The Filipinos will have a stopover at Istanbul, Turkey, where it will take their connecting flight to Belgrade.
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