INITIALLY named as alternates, Gilas Pilipinas veteran Japeth Aguilar and young big man Mason Amos now have big shoes to fill.
This after slotman AJ Edu and forward Jamie Malonzo were ruled out of the Nationals’ campaign in the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament set from July 2 to 7 in Latvia.
The 6-foot-10 Edu will miss the Philippine five’s bid to gain a coveted slot in the Paris Olympics due to nagging knee issues, while the 6-foot-7 Malonzo is on rehab after going under the knife on his left calf.
Gilas will hit the ground running for the OQT tomorrow at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba.
Naturalized star Justin Brownlee leads coach Tim Cone’s squad for the make-or-break tilt along with reigning seven-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo, former winner Scottie Thompson, Kai Sotto, Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana, CJ Perez, Dwight Ramos, Carl Tamayo, and Kevin Quiambao.
Despite facing tough odds, Cone remained unfazed.
“For us, I think for us to think that we have any success with this thing is for us to get to the crossover. We’ve got to kind of go out and beat either Latvia or Georgia to really feel like we’ve had success and then we’ll see where we go from there,” Cone said. “If we can beat one of those two teams that means we can compete in the crossover. So, you never know from there and that’s kind of our feeling, let’s just go there and I keep saying it’s not impossible.”
After toughening up in Laguna, the Filipino cagers will take on Turkey and Poland in a pair of tune-up matches.
Brownlee is already in the country after his stint with Pelita Jaya in the Basketball Champions League Asia.
Gilas, ranked 37th, must finish in the top two of its group that includes Georgia and Latvia to reach the crossover semifinals against the top two of Group B, which includes No. 12 Brazil, No. 17 Montenegro, and No. 67 Cameroon.
The winners of the crossover semis will duke it out for the lone slot in the Olympics set for July in the French capital.
