Gilas Pilipinas begins Fiba Asia buildup

Gilas Pilipinas. Photo by Randolph B. Leongson

Hoping to finally claim the gold medal in the 2017 Fiba Asia Cup, Gilas Pilipinas began its preparations for the continental meet Thursday night at Upper Deck Gym in Pasig.

Returning swingman Gabe Norwood joined the pool for the first time since being named to the 12-man roster where he expected to provide veteran presence for the youthful crew.

Also in attendance in the first day of the team’s 12-day preparation are holdovers June Mar Fajardo, Jayson Castro, Japeth Aguilar, and Terrence Romeo.

Rookies Jio Jalalon, Matthew Wright, Roger Pogoy, and Carl Bryan Cruz were also on hand in the resumption of coach Chot Reyes’ national team practices.

Fil-German forward Christian Standhardinger, who will be the naturalized player for the team in the absence of Dray Blatche, also caught up.

Fresh from their stint in the 2017 Jones Cup, Kiefer Ravena, Raymar Jose, Ed Daquioag, Ray Parks, Almond Vosotros, Fonzo Gotladera also attended the evening practices.

Fiba Asia-bound players Calvin Abueva and Raymond Almazan were absent.

The 2017 Fiba Asia Cup is set from August 8 to 20 in Beirut, Lebanon were the Filipinos are shooting to end their streak of silver medal finishes.