June Mar Fajardo, Troy Rosario and Roger Pogoy. Photos by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Gilas Pilipinas’ first tune-up against Adelaide on Friday revealed problems that still need fixing with a week before the 2019 Fiba World Cup.
In the 93-82 victory over the 36ers, coach Yeng Guiao said it was evident that June Mar Fajardo, Roger Pogoy, and Troy Rosario are still trying to feel their way into the system having missed a chunk of the national team’s practices.
In fact, it’s just been three days since they rejoined training after their 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals duties.
“They just arrived with the team and they’re still finding their spots during the game and their teammates were also trying to adjust to them,” said Guiao in Filipino.
“When we were in Spain the team was more cohesive because they’ve been with each other for a long time already.”
That’s going to be Gilas Pilipinas’ focus as its heads into the final stretch of training with the Fajardo, Pogoy, and Rosario likely to make the Final 12 roster.
“When June Mar, Pogs, and Troy were on the floor they were kind of looking for their spots. That’s one thing we have to fix in the next few days because that was what happened in the second quarter when we got out of sync.”
Gilas ended the first quarter with a 25-16 lead but were outplayed in the second period and saw their margin dwindle to one, 50-49, heading into the break right when the trio was inserted into the match.
Only Pogoy made a considerable impact scoring 10 points with eight of those coming in Gilas 13-2 game-closing run. Fajardo had four points in 11 minutes if play while Rosario went scoreless.