Baldwin: Dwight Ramos’ injury ‘major concern’ ahead of OQT

Gilas Pilipinas guard Dwight Ramos during the game against South Korea. Photo from Fiba

MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tab Baldwin expressed concern toward the injury status of star point guard Dwight Ramos who’s nursing a strained groin mere days away from the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Serbia.

In an interview with The Chasedown, Baldwin said Ramos’ status remains uncertain with no noticeable improvements on the injury.

“Dwight is a major concern,” said Baldwin. “We’re not just seeing any improvements in the groin muscle.”

Ramos suffered the injury while the team was in Clark, Pampanga for the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers and that prevented him from playing in the Philippines’ 79-79 draw with China in a tune-up game after the tournament concluded.

“It’s been four days since he got the injury and the trip doesn’t help his muscle problems. So we’ll see if it will settle down in the next few days.”

Gilas flew to Belgrade, the site of the Serbian leg of the OQT, on Friday with a brief layover in Istanbul, Turkey.

Ramos was Gilas’ best player of the Asia Cup Qualifiers averaging 13.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.0 steals across six games for the undefeated Filipinos.

Baldwin said that if the 6-foot-4 Ramos won’t recover in time then it would leave a big hole in Gilas’ system.

“I’m guardedly pessimistic,” said Baldwin. “There’s really no point on making an assessment on something that could change overnight.”

The Philippines plays Serbia on July 1 and the Dominican Republic a day later in Group A.

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