Photo from Fiba.com
Three days before leaving for Japan for first leg of the 2019 Fiba World Cup qualifiers, three Gilas players are still dealing with injuries.
Calvin Abueva is suffering from flu while Jayson Castro is nursing back spasms, leading them to miss the final tuneup game against NLEX on Saturday morning.
Terrence Romeo, who is still suffering from a knee contusion, meanwhile, will unlikely be available in the game against Japan.
“Terrence is not yet 100-percent. He’s coming in and out of practice, but he’s unsure. He came to a few practices, but hasn’t been able to do any scrimmages,” the veteran mentor said during the team’s sendoff at Crowne Plaza in Ortigas.
Reyes, though, still expects the GlobalPort guard to join the 16-man Philippine crew in Tokyo with national team planning to submit the final roster for the Japan game until the deadline on November 23.
“He’s still part of the pool. We haven’t struck out anybody and everyone in the pool has a chance to be in the lineup,” he said.
If Romeo does miss the first game of the Asian qualifiers, he will leave a huge hole in Gilas Pilipinas’ offense. The cold-blooded scorer averaged 17.8 points, 3.0 assists, and 1.7 rebounds in his last run with the Philippine squad in the 2017 Fiba Asia Cup.
“We’re not giving up on Terrence. We still hope that he can still make the lineup,” said Reyes.