Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) bared the 24-man list for the members of the Gilas pool that will be taken into consideration for the next set of international tournaments.
Gilas head coach Chot Reyes unveiled the pool in between Sunday’s PBA double-header at the PhilSports Arena.
Automatically included in the list were the 12 special Gilas rookies who were part of a special round of the 2016 edition of the PBA Draft.
The new pool sees reigning PBA MVP JuneMar Fajardo leading the way for the veterans, as well as the return of Calvin Abueva, who missed out on the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
The SBP selected one additional player from each of the PBA franchises to complete the list.
Here is the complete list of players:
1. Mac Belo
2. Carl Bryan Cruz
3. Ed Daquioag
4. Russel Escoto
5. Kevin Ferrer
6. Alfonzo Gotladera
7. Jio Jalalon
8. Von Pessumal
9. R.R. Pogoy
10. Mike Tolomia
11. Arnold Van Opstal
12.Matthew Wright
13. Calvin Abueva
14. Japeth Aguilar
15. Raymond Almazan
16. Jayson Castro
17. Art Dela Cruz
18.JuneMar Fajardo
19.Jonathan Grey
20. Bradwyn Guinto
21. Paul Lee
22. LA Revilla
23. Terrence Romeo
24. Norbert Torres
At a press conference after the announcement, Reyes also revealed that naturalized big man Andray Blatche is still committed to the national program and could possibly be selected.
The Gilas coach also bared that he had conversations with former national team mainstays Gabe Norwood, Marc Pingris, and Ranidel De Ocampo as to why they were left out of the lineup.
Reyes went on to say that the door isn’t closed on players plying their trade outside the PBA, such as Bobby Ray Parks and Kiefer Ravena, but added that their chances for selection aren’t as high as those already included in the pool.
According to the national team coach, he picked out a younger core with the 2019 international tournaments in mind.
“It’s a very young team, it’s balanced,” Reyes said, describing the team. “It has a combination of everything to run the system we want to run.“
The Gilas pool is slated to train once the schedule for the SEABA Championship—the first tournament the team will compete in—has been finalized.
The cadets will be released by their mother teams two months before the competition, while the veterans will join them one month before.
