TIM Cone and the entire Gilas Pilipinas are hoping a good news would welcome them in training camp at the Inspire Sports Academy in the coming day or two.
The fate of Calvin Abueva and Jason Perkins remains hanging like the sword of Damocles on the head of the men’s national team with less than a week left before the group leaves for Hangzhou, China for the 19th Asian Games.
Abueva, Perkins status for Gilas in Asian Games
The final Delegation Registration Meeting set by the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (HAGOC) is set on Sunday (Sept) in which it will be known whether the two Gilas players would be allowed to play as last-minute entries.
The names of Abueva and Perkins were not on the original list submitted by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) to HAGOC ahead of the deadline for the Entry by Names last July 25.
The two were tapped by Cone – himself a replacement for the resigned Chot Reyes – and his coaching staff following the injuries to Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and Jamie Malonzo.

Until Saturday when the team entered its closed-door training camp in Laguna, no word or hint has been heard whether the changes in the Gilas roster will be approved.
The POC likewise said no communication has been made by HAGOC on the matter, although the first batch of officials from the country’s Olympic body already left for China on Saturday in time for the DRM meeting.
PH Chef De Mission Richard Gomez is supposed to attend the meeting in behalf of the country.
At the moment, life goes on for the national team, which practiced for the first time at Inspire from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Cone felt grateful for both Abueva and Perkins, who've been religiously attending practices from Day 1 despite the uncertainty of their situations.
“Thankfully Perk and Calvin are sticking around and still playing although they’re not 100 percent sure and we truly appreciate that,” said the interim Gilas mentor.
“We’re just crossing our fingers and crossing our toes, hoping it will work out because we really need those two guys and it’s really obvious in practice how important they are to what we’re doing.”
Cone admitted it has yet to think of a contingency plan if ever Abueva and Perkins’ inclusion is turned down, other than having veteran Stanley Pringle as Gilas’ 13th man or alternate player.
“He’s (Stanley) an alternate if anything happens, in case Calvin and Perk can’t make it,” said the national coach.
But Cone said it’s Abueva and Perkins who perfectly fill in the void that is missing in the team.
“We’re really keeping our fingers crossed with Jason and Calvin because this is the two positions we don’t really have,” he added.
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