Gilas opens vs host Taiwan Sunday
THE Philippines’ men’s national basketball squad left for Taiwan yesterday to make a return to the tournament they ruled the last time they competed in it – the William Jones Cup.
The team, nicknamed the Gilas, will be playing its first game tomorrow against the host country, Chinese Taipei which will be led by the usual suspects, Cheng Ju-Lu, former PBA Asian import Jet Chang and naturalized player Quincy Jones.
The road ahead offers plenty of challenges for the 17-man pool of head coach Tab Baldwin as they play eight games in a span of eight days. In the pool are Cebuanos Sonny Thoss, Dondon
Hontiveros, Terrence Romeo and Aldrech Ramos. Also in are the PBA’s top two draft picks, Troy Rosario and Moalaa Tautaa along with the country’s own naturalized player, Andray Blatche.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson also joined the team but will not be playing in the competition.
Baldwin will also be using the tournament to assess the pool and start coming up with a final roster that will represent the country in the Fiba Asia Championship in Changsha, China next month.
Playing for the Gilas are Jayson Castro, Ranidel de Ocampo, Gary David, Gabe Norwood, Jimmy Alapag, Asi Taulava, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser and Marc Pingris