Gilas Pilipinas. Photo by Randolph B. Leongson
Gilas Pilipinas’ participation in the recent Taipei Jones Cup gave national coach Chot Reyes the clue on how to form the team for the Fiba Asia Cup in Lebanon this August.
Reyes said the revelations in the nine-day tourney were 6-foot-8 Filipino-German Christian Standhardinger and Carl Bryan Cruz of Alaska.
With naturalized player Andre Blatche not in the lineup for the Asia Cup, Standhardinger will fill in the position vacated by the former NBA player.
Reyes acknowledged that Blatche is the best stretch four, but Standhardinger can do other things and get to work on his mid-range game to complement June Mar Fajardo.
In Taipei, Standhardinger proved he’s a fighter and that’s what Reyes likes about him.
Cruz, filling in for Allein Maliksi in the Lebanon tourney, is one of the six players fielded in all nine games in the Jones Cup. He will serve as backup for Gabe Norwood as a wing defender.
The other surprises were Kiefer Ravena, Jio Jalalon and Matthew Wright.
The 6-foot-5 Cruz averaged 7.2 ppg with a remarkable 40-percent three-point shooting—a performance that undoubtedly got the nod of the Gilas coaching staff.
By the way, Cruz and Standhardinger are the only players listed in both the Lebanon and Kuala Lumpur tournaments.
The Fiba Asia will be held Aug. 8 to 20 while the Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian Games is set Aug. 19 to 31.
If Gilas reaches the Asia Cup Final Four, Cruz and Standhardinger will miss the opening game in the SEA Games against Thailand on Aug. 20.
Reyes has had just one practice with complete attendance as of this writing so he’s prepared for the worst and hoping for some surprises.