The Philippines’ first game in the fourth window of the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers is just a week away but head coach Yeng Guiao is in no hurry to name his final lineup.
Gilas Pilipinas will face Iran in Tehran on Sept. 13 and Guiao plans to announce his squad there so the team can take advantage of having more players during training.
“There’s no real urgency to name the 12 guys, so we’ll stick with the 16 as for now,” said Guiao after the team’s practice Thursday at Meralco Gym. “We’ll take all 16 players so even the two who are suspended won’t be able to play but we still need them so we can continue with the practices.”
Japeth Aguilar and Matthew Wright are suspended for the Philippines’ game in Tehran for their involvement in the ugly melee between the Philippines and Australia in the previous window.
Greg Slaughter’s status is also one the reasons why Guiao has yet to make his final lineup for the Iran game.
Slaughter suffered a sprained left ankle in his last game in the PBA Governors’ Cup and issues regarding his birth certificate are still being smoothed out for the Fiba tournament.
“We’re still in limbo with regards to the status of Greg, we’re just waiting for that, we hope it’s announced before we leave,” said Guiao who still has to choose between Stanley Pringle and Christian Standhardinger as the team’s naturalized player.