TWO players in the Gilas Pilipinas lineup for the 19th Asian Games are coming off surgery, raising questions on whether they’ll be in game shape for the quadrennial meet set in Hangzhou, China.
Both Justin Brownlee and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser are rehabbing from off-season surgery which could hamper their preparation with the rest of the team in the three weeks left before the Asiad basketball competition fires off on Sept. 26.
READ: Kouame, Brownlee lead Gilas lineup submitted to Asiad organizers
It’s been more than a month since the 35-year-old Barangay Ginebra resident import underwent surgery to remove bone spurs in his foot, forcing him to miss the national team’s mini-pocket tournament in China.
Ganuelas-Rosser on the other hand, suffered a fractured foot during the height of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, which eventually also made him miss the entire PBA On Tour.
READ: Marcial confident of Gilas' Asiad chances despite uncertainty: 'Laban 'to'
“Diretso naman ang therapy niya, pero iba pa din yung kundisyon,” said a person privy to the incoming sophomore big man’s condition.
Besides, Ganuelas-Rosser won’t be having his final X-ray on his injured foot until Sept. 15, putting in doubt his availability for the Asiad.
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial also aired the same concern about the conditioning of the players to be added in the Gilas Pilipinas team competing in Hangzhou.
“Yun ang problema natin. Hindi ko alam kung sa sarili nila nagpapa-kundisyon sila. Pero siguradong hindi pa game shape yun. So yun ang isang problema natin,” said Marcial when he appeared as special guest in the weekly SPIN.POV on Tuesday.
“Ang daming sitwasyon na hindi nation kontrolado.”
WATCH:
On Tuesday, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) released the rosters of the 40 sports where the country is competing in the Asiad, including basketball.
In the entry of names submitted by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) seven of the players are members of the national team that competed in the FIBA World Cup, namely June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Jamie Malonzo, Scottie Thompson, CJ Perez, and Roger Pogoy.
Meanwhile, Brownlee and Ganuelas-Rosser were among those added to the roster to take the place of the players who begged off due to their commitment to their mother teams overseas.
Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana, and Ange Kouame complete the lineup.
Incidentally, Newsome, Oftana, Brownlee, and Ganuelas-Rosser were part of the team that regained for the Philippines the basketball gold in the Cambodia SEA Games.
Now, the question that begs to be answered: are the five additions or those to be further added be in game shape to be able to help a Gilas side come the Asiad?
Hopefully, so.
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