THE PHILIPPINES’ Andray Blatche leads the Gilas charge. AFP
TAIPEI – Andray Blatche has delayed his arrival here for another day and will not be playing a game in the Jones Cup anymore.
Originally scheduled to fly back here on Saturday, Blatche will rejoin Gilas Pilipinas only on the following night and might not even be able to see the closing ceremonies of the nine-day, eight-nation tournament at Xinzhuang gymnasium here.
Blatche asked to stay for another day in the United States so he could drive his mother back home to the West Coast. They attended the funeral of Blatche’s uncle, his mother’s brother whom the former Brooklyn Net was very close to.
Team personnel confirmed the rebooking arrangement only on Friday morning.
With that development, the earliest time that Blatche could return to work is on Tuesday since the squad will be flying back to Manila on Monday morning and would most likely get the rest of the day off.
All told, Blatche would have missed eight days of practices and games.
The next tournament that Gilas will play in is in the MVP Cup from Sept. 11-13 at Smart Araneta Coliseum. It will be a pocket tournament among four nations with the Filipinos, Chinese Taipei and the Wellington Saints of New Zealand already confirming participation.
The fourth team originally invited, Lebanon, has backed out.