Two injured cogs worry Gilas five

If the  injured Jason Castro and Ranidel De Ocampo don’t get well on time, Gilas Pilipinas has until tomorrow  to make changes in its lineup for  the Fiba Asia Championship.

Castro and De Ocampo, expected to be vital cogs for the Filipinos in their quest to qualify for the Fiba World Cup next year, are being treated by team physicians  to be available for the tournament.

Castro and De Ocampo suffered nasty ankle injuries in an exhibition game against Kazakhstan last week. Though both are making progress, they obviously won’t be 100 percent on opening day.

Beau Belga, the hard-playing Rain or Shine center in the PBA, is available should De Ocampo’s injury keeps the Talk ‘N Text big man from seeing action. But the Nationals don’t  have an extra point guard that can take over in case Castro won’t be available.

Belga was the last player cut from the team but has kept practicing with the Nationals. He actually played in the match against Kazakhstan, which the Filipinos won, 92-89, even after Castro left the game during its most crucial stages.

Castro, according to head coach Chot Reyes in a  recent talk with the Inquirer, could be the best matchup problem for any opponent of Team Philippines in the Fiba Asia with his size and quickness at the point guard spot.

The Filipinos battle Saudi Arabia at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday at Mall of Asia Arena and Reyes might not yet find an urgent need for Castro and De Ocampo.

But Reyes would need the two in their next two games—against Jordan on Friday and Chinese-Taipei on Saturday.

The Philippines is in Group A, the top three finishers of which advance to join the Group B qualifiers to make up Group E for the second phase of the preliminary round.

The best route for the Philippines is to top the preliminaries and get the lightest possible assignment in the quarterfinals, possibly Kazakhstan.