Two Cebuanos were named to the 20-man pool, which the team for the upcoming Fiba Basketball World Cup window will be selected from.
The two Cebuano giants, reigning PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel and Greg Slaughter of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, were named to the pool that surprisingly did not have naturalized player Andray Blatche and scoring dynamo Terrence Romeo.
“It’s always an honor to be called up, but I’ve been looking forward to this since I missed playing in the last window,” said Slaughter, who used to play for the University of the Visayas.
Slaughter said he is excited with his inclusion but also admitted he has to prioritize his stint with Ginebra, which is currently playing in the quarterfinal round of the PBA Governors’ Cup as the top seeded team.
“I’m very excited to join the national team but have some business to take care of first in the playoffs before [making] the transition [to the National Team],” he added.
The Philippines is set to take on Kazakhstan on November 30 and then, Asian powerhouse, Iran, on December 3.
In the press conference that was aired live over the PBA’s social media page, Guiao explained that Blatche’s non-inclusion is an experiment.
“Siguro, pag nakita natin na di natin kaya, then he’s always an option,” Guiao said. (If we see that we can’t do it without him, then he’s always an option.)
The fiery head coach also said he chose to preserve the team’s chemistry rather than put Blatche in.
“It was really a hard decision on our part. But we took into consideration the chemistry that’s been built up from Asian Games. There’s a really strong bond among the members and we want to preserve that.”
The rest of the pool is comprised of Gilas veterans Jayson Castro, Paul Lee, Alex Cabagnot, LA Tenorio, Matthew Wright, Scottie Thompson, Gabe Norwood, Troy Rosario, Arwind Santos, Japeth Aguilar, Beau Belga, Christian Standhardinger, Poy Erran and Ian Sangalang.
Also named to the pool were youngsters Ricci Rivero and Kai Sotto.