Gilas Pilipinas during singing the Philippine national anthem. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Marcio Lassiter was cut from the national pool as the Philippine men’s national basketball team’s 14-man lineup for the Fiba Olympic qualifying tournament is now set.
Gilas Pilipinas team manager Butch Antonio revealed the final roster on his Twitter account early Thursday morning after meeting with the coaches.
READ: No final 14 yet for Gilas Pilipinas; ‘Brutal decision’ for Baldwin
As per Antonio, the 14 players who will be with the team for its three-week training camp in Europe are Jayson Castro, Ranidel de Ocampo, Troy Rosario and Ryan Reyes of TNT, Gabe Norwood and Jeff Chan of Rain or Shine, June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer, Marc Pingris of Star, Calvin Abueva of Alaska, Japeth Aguilar and LA Tenorio or Barangay Ginebra, two-time UAAP MVP Ray Parks, naturalized center Andray Blatche and Terrence Romeo of GlobalPort.
The announcement was supposed to be made after Gilas’ 81-70 win over Iran in a tuneup game Wednesday night, but the decision was delayed after national team head coach Tab Baldwin said the match made the coaching staff and team officials “rethink things.” Lassiter’s status was also one of the reasons for the postponement.
READ: Gilas fends off late rally from Iran in tune-up match
Lassiter hasn’t been able to show up regularly in practice due to health issues. He missed recent training sessions due to bronchitis.
“We sent him (Lassiter) home two days ago when he showed up at the practice with instructions to rest and start eating to build his energy and strength as soon as possible. That’s the last instructions that were given. He’s doing what he’s told,” Baldwin said on Wednesday night.
“For the coaches, we have to say, ‘Do we need him?’ And for Marcio, he has to say, ‘Am I gonna be able to get back?’ I don’t know if we’ll gonna have discussion for tonight (Wednesday), tomorrow (Thursday) morning. That’s part of why were waffling on this decision a little bit.”
READ: Gilas thanks fans, asks for prayers ahead of Europe camp
The Philippine team leaves for Greece on Friday before heading to Turkey and takes part in a pocket tournament in Italy.
Of the 14 players, two will be placed on the reserved list.