Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Ricci Rivero was finally an active participant on Monday’s Gilas Pilipinas evening training session at Meralco Gym as for the second straight week, coach Chot Reyes drew a complete attendance from his current pool.
Veterans Jayson Castro, June Mar Fajardo, and Gabe Norwood spearheaded the 12 members of the current pool.
Also attending the practice were Japeth Aguilar, Troy Rosario, Allein Maliksi, Kevin Alas, Mac Belo, Carl Bryan Cruz, and Kiefer Ravena.
Sophomores Roger Pogoy, Matthew Wright, and Jio Jalalon were also in attendance, but remained on the sidelines for the session.
The current Gilas pool members continue their preparations for the second window of the 2019 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers, where they face Australia on February 22 at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne before flying back home to take on Japan on February 25 at Mall of Asia Arena.
Aside from Rivero, nine players from the “23-for-23” cadet list also participated in the training namely Paul Desiderio, J-Jay Alejandro, Javee Mocon, Arvin Tolentino, Ken Tuffin, Juan Gomez de Liaño, and high school standouts Kai Sotto of Ateneo, Will Gozum of Mapua, and newcomer Carl Tamayo of Nazareth School of National University.