MATTHEW Wright has begged off from the Gilas Pilipinas pool ahead of the first window of the Fiba Asia Cup 2021 qualifiers, interim coach Mark Dickel confirmed.
Wright has not joined Gilas Pilipinas since practice started last week, but Dickel hopes the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) will consider Wright again in future windows.
“I believe Matthew has opted out of this window. In the future, hopefully, he can be reconsidered,” said Dickel after Tuesday night’s practice at the Meralco Gym.
Over the past few years, Wright has been very active with Gilas Pilipinas. Just last December, he played for the national team in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
Wright is just the latest player to skip the first window of the qualifiers where Gilas Pilipinas will be facing Thailand on February 20 and Indonesia on February 23.
Other members of the 24-man Gilas pool who have yet to attend practice are La Salle cager Justine Baltazar and TnT KaTropa's Bobby Ray Parks.
Dickel said he is leaving the status of Baltazar to Gilas management.
“I think with Baltazar, it’s a work in progress. You should probably speak with Gabby (Cui, Gilas team manager) or management about that,” said Dickel.
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