Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser (left), is expected to crack the final roster. —FIBA.COM
A lot has been said about the manpower crisis that the Philippines is dealing with ahead of its bid to reclaim the basketball gold in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
But Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser offered some perspective to help appreciate the 15-man pool from which the final roster to Cambodia will be built.
“I think it’s a good group,” he said during a Gilas Pilipinas practice at Meralco Gym in Pasig City. “It’s a group that’s really athletic, and I think defensively, our potential, you know, is crazy.”
“The athleticism, the switchability [and] the length—those are some things I look forward to, you know, being a part of,” he added.
Joining Ganuelas-Rosser in the selection that will be led by the naturalized Justin Brownlee are CJ Perez, Calvin Oftana, Chris Ross, Chris Newsome, Mason Amos, Aaron Black, Marcio Lassiter, Arvin Tolentino, Christian Standhardinger, Jeremiah Gray, Jerom Lastimosa, and brothers Michael and Ben Phillips.
A number of standouts on that list are known to be really high scorers, but guys like Chris Newsome, Christian Standhardinger, CJ Perez, Ganuelas-Rosser, and of course, Brownlee, pride themselves in being two-way aces.
“Like that defensive side? It’s so much fun when you’re like you’re able to lock things down and stop [opponents] from scoring,” said the NLEX forward, who also has some personal agenda going on having settled for a bronze medal in the 3×3 competition in Hanoi, Vietnam, last year.
“If we get the right 12 [players], it’s something we could lean on when we go to Cambodia,” he went on.
Gilas Pilipinas practices one last time Saturday morning before heading for Phnom Penh later in the evening, where its brain trust makes two cuts for the tournament that unfurls on May 9.
The Philippines is bracketed with Malaysia, the hosts, and Singapore in Group B, which will battle at Elephant Hall 2 of Morodok Techo National Stadium in the Cambodian capital.
