Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) on Wednesday named the 12 players comprising the Gilas Pilipinas 3.0 which will vie for the gold in the FIBA Asia Championship in China late September.
Read: SBP announces Gilas 3.0 final lineup
Some big names and members of the 2013 squad were not included in the final lineup, but Marc Pingris said this new group can actually do wonders as the country guns for the region’s lone ticket to the 2016 Olympics.
“OK naman yung team,” said Pingris, who was among the 12 players picked by coach Tab Baldwin.
“Late ako so nangangapa pa lang. Sobrang strict ni coach ngayon e so focus lang kami sa practice. Ibibigay lang namin lahat para sa mga kababayan namin.”
Gilas is parading a smaller lineup with the absence of back-to-back Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) MVP June Mar Fajardo, who begged off to rest his injured feet, and the lanky Japeth Aguilar. But the undersized forward, who’s known for his boundless energy, doesn’t see the team’s lack of ceiling as a problem.
“Kahit maliliit tayo alam niyo naman puso namin 100-percent,” said Pingris, who joins naturalized Filipino Andray Blatche, Asi Taulava, and Sonny Thoss in the frontcourt.
Despite an impressive showing in the 37th William Jones Cup where they finished second behind Iran, Baldwin said the team is far from FIBA form.
“We’re not peaking yet. We better not be peaking yet,” the American-New Zealander mentor said during the MVP Cup press conference in Ortigas on Thursday (September 10).
“We have to start sharpening the pencil now. We have to start focusing more on situational plays. Our concentration level really has to go up in terms of exactly which rosters are gonna work best for us, which groups of five among the twelve are gonna be our most effective based on the situation in the game so a lot of our work now is situational.”
Related: We cannot underestimate the teams, says Baldwin on MVP Cup
The MVP Cup will serve as Gilas’ final tuneup tournament before heading to China for the FIBA Asia Championship.
The Filipinos will open the inaugural tilt against Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters, who replaced Lebanon, before facing New Zealand pro club Wellington Saints and Chinese Taipei national team.
