CHICAGO - When the Philippines defends its men's basketball title in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam this summer, one key member of the Gilas Pilipinas pool will not be seeing action.
Ange Kouame.
A source told SPIN.ph Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes left the 6-foot-10, 220-pound naturalized Filipino out of his wish list so that Kouame can focus on his duties with the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
Who will fill the void?
On the heels of the cancellation of Season 83 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the UAAP's Season 84 will open in a bubble set-up this March 26 where the Blue Eagles aim to win a fourth successive UAAP championship.
With Kouame, 24, out and as a glaring lack of size in the middle emerges, the source also revealed that Reyes has tapped a number of "bigs" in the list of players he submitted to the PBA to be loaned to the SEA Games campaign.
Japeth Aguilar of Ginebra, however, is not on that list, added the source.
Aguilar's absence is surprising since the 6-9 Barangay Ginebra high-flyer was an integral part of Reyes' Gilas teams, including the side that finished runner-up to Iran in the 2013 Fiba Asia to earn a ticket to the 2014 World Cup in Spain.
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