GILAS REPLACEMENTS TO PLAY IN LAST TUNE-UP FOR ASIAN GAMES

Tim Cone said last-minute additions Marcio Lassiter, Chris Ross and CJ Perez of San Miguel, Kevin Alas of NLEX and Arvin Tolentino of NorthPort will see action for Gilas Pilipinas when the national team tangles with Korean club LG Sakers in a tune-up game on Friday, September 22, at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

The tune-up match, scheduled at 4 p.m. will be the lone scrimmage game for the beleaguered Philippine men's basketball team which had to replace Calvin Abueva, Terrence Romeo, Moala Tautuaa and Jason Perkins last Tuesday.

The four veteran PBA players were not part of the list of 37 players submitted to the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (HAGOC), forcing Cone and Gilas team manager Alfrancis Chua to find replacements that were on the list.

"They are very, very smart, intelligent players, and they are picking up things quickly," Cone said, referring to Lassiter and the four other new additions. "However, we are overloading them at this point, so it's still a struggle for them at times. With time, they should get comfortable with what we do."

Gilas Pilipinas is in a race for time to prepare for the 19th Asian Games men's basketball tournament which begins on September 26 in Hangzhou, China

As of posting time, Gilas and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas are still waiting for the final decision from HAGOC pending an appeal for Abueva and company to be allowed to play in the quadrennial games.

Gilas is slated to leave for Hangzhou on Saturday, September 23.

2023-09-21T20:01:27Z dg43tfdfdgfd