CONE CALLS UP 5 PLAYERS FOR ASIAD

(UPDATE) INTERIM Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone has named replacement players after four members of the pool have been excluded in the lineup for 19th Asian Games set to unfold on September 23 in Hangzhou, China.

In a press briefing on Tuesday with officials of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), Cone has named Chris Ross, Kevin Alas, Arvin Tolentino, and CJ Perez as replacements for Calvin Abueva, Terrence Romeo, Moala Tautuaa, and Jason Perkins were not named in the initial list of players.

In addition, Marcio Lassiter was included on the team's roster, according to Cone, and that Roger Pogoy was not available due to "serious health reasons."

However, Cone said they are still waiting for word from Asian Games organizers regarding their appeal to put Abueva, Romeo, Tautuaa and Perkins on the list of players.

"When I first was approached and started with the team, we were given a list of 60 players, 30 of which were PBA players and the others being from Japan, Korea, the UAAP and the NCAA," Cone told reporters.

Cone admitted that he personally wanted Abueva and Perkins on the roster.

"It was my desire that looking at the lineup and how we wanted to proceed, I felt like we needed more balance in the lineup, so I requested, if possible, we could add Calvin Abueva and Jason Perkins to that list... they were outside that list of 60, so the idea was that, if we wanted to be a competitive team, it was going to be comfortable for me to coach," he said.

Apart from Pogoy, Cone said Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and Jamie Malonzo were also out from the roster because of injuries.

"We're requesting to put four names on the list that were not on the (current) list (approved by the organizers)," Cone said. "That's where we stand, we're trying to get those four guys, but we heard the answer is no. But we haven't gotten anything official and we're trying different avenues to continue."

"In the meantime, we're going to the list of 37 [players] and look at that list and try to find four replacements for the guys who cannot go," he added. "So we looked at the four of the 37-list, and there were only six available players for us to choose from, and we had to choose four from those six."

And this was where he named Ross, Alas, Tolentino, and Perez, who returned from Japan on Monday and all four had shown up at training camp.

The 37-player list by the SBP was given to reporters at the end of the briefing, but most of those in the list are unavailable, including Jordan Clarkson and Kiefer Ravena, who were in the FIBA World Cup roster.

Cone also admitted that it was an emotional ride, especially for the players that were not named to the team.

"Calvin (Abueva) has been amazing in terms of passion, wanting to play, wanting to be there. When we told him last night, he broke down," he told reporters.

"That's why we wanted to get Perkins and Abueva in the lineup because we thought we could do it, but it turns out to be tougher in China than we thought," Cone said.

Gilas was coming off an appearance at the FIBA World Cup, which was held in the country, with their last game beating Asiad host China, 96-75.

2023-09-19T19:27:45Z dg43tfdfdgfd