Mikey Williams update
TNT begins its title-retention bid.
THE PBA opens Season 47 on Sunday with the Leo Awards and TNT starts its title-retention bid.
But 30-year-old Mikey Williams, hands down favorite as Season 46 Rookie of the Year and one of the key players for the Tropang Giga, won’t be around.
The 30-year-old guard is still in the US, apparently yet to come to terms with TNT on a new deal. Williams signed a two-season deal last year but apparently a clause in the contract gives him an option to re-negotiate should TNT win a championship, which the team did in last year's Philippine Cup.
Still, the Tropang Giga has Williams on the 15-man roster as the season gets going.
Baltazar pulls out from Gilas pool
Justin Baltazar won't see action for Gilas in next month's games.
JUSTINE Baltazar is focusing on his first year as a pro with Hiroshima in the Japan B.League and has withdrawn from the Philippine men’s basketball training pool.
Gilas Pilipinas, preparing for third window of the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers and the 2022 Fiba Asia Cup in Indonesia next month, started training last week.
The 6-foot-7 forward is one of 18 players invited by the national federation to train for next month’s games.
Baltazar enlisted for the PBA draft last month but pulled out as he took the offer from the Japanese club Hiroshima Dragonflies.
Ricci Rivero added to nat’l pool
Ricci Rivero is expected to join national team training soon.
UP Maroons star Ricci Rivero has been added to the national basketball training pool as it gears up for two Fiba events in Indonesia next month.
The third window of the Fiba Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifying pits the Philippines against New Zealand and India.
In the Fiba Asia Cup, Gilas will again face the two countries in pool play, along with Lebanon.
Rivero has yet to join Philippine team practice but is expected to attend soon.
Also added to the pool are Fil-Am Caelum Harris and Emilio Aguinaldo College’s Allen Liwag.
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