DESPITE having only 11 players in the third window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers, Gilas Pilipinas coach Nenad VuÄinić is convinced his charges still have what it takes.
“I think we will go with what we have,” VuÄinić was quoted as saying in the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas website. “It’s gonna be a very difficult task obviously going to New Zealand with a limited number of big players, but we intend to play hard and hopefully play well.”
The Filipino cagers take on New Zealand on the road on Friday and India on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Making up the squad are skipper Kiefer Ravena, Dwight Ramos, RJ Abarrientos, SJ Belangel, Geo Chiu, Dave Ildefonso, LeBron Lopez, William Navarro, Carl Tamayo, and newcomers Rhenz Abando and Kevin Quiambao.
The nationals are set to do battle without 6-foot-10 naturalized center Ange Kouame (partially torn ACL and sprained meniscus), but VuÄinić is hoping the other big men will step up.
“It’s very hard to replace size but we’re very pleased with how our bigs performed, guys like Geo Chiu, Kevin Quiambao, and Carl Tamayo,” VuÄinić said.
“There are only really three players that are playing a position four and five but also guys like Will Navarro, he played out of position, and he’s done well.”
The 11-man roster would also likely compose the core of Gilas in the FIBA Asia Cup set from July 12 to 24 in Indonesia.
The likes of Kai Sotto, Bobby Ray Parks Jr., and Ricci Rivero are reportedly being eyed as a possible additions to the team for the Asian tilt.
Although they lost both their tune-up games with South Korea 92-96 and 102-106 recently, VuÄinić maintained it will only make Gilas better.
“It’s easy to look for excuses but we really have to find a way. I think we did find a way.
Defensively, we did struggle,” he said.
“Korea is a very good team in terms of offensive execution (and) shooting ability, but also, they have size. They’ve got Ratcliffe (Ra Gun-ah) and Kim (Jong-kyu) who are genuine international big guys but we held our own I think.”
