Expect the Philippine national men’s basketball team to be at its maximum strength in the FIBA Asia Cup after the PBA on Tuesday confirmed the release of its top players who will be called up for the tournament slated in August.
With the development, teams are now mandated to release their players according to the Memorandum of Agreement between the PBA and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas: 30 days before the tournament for Gilas rookies, and 15 days for PBA veterans.
There were speculations that some PBA teams had been reluctant to abide by the agreement due to FIBA Asia Cup’s status as a non-qualifying event and alleged security issues in host country Lebanon.
PBA players in the squad’s 24-man roster are June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Raymond Almazan, Allein Maliksi, Troy Rosario, Calvin Abueva, Jayson Castro, Terrence Romeo, Jio Jalalon, Matthew Wright, RR Pogoy, Gabe Norwood, Norbert Torres, Kevin Alas, Baser Amer, Mac Belo, Kevin Ferrer, Chris Tolomia and Carl Bryan Cruz.
Naturalized player Andray Blatche, Filipino-German Christian Standhardinger, Bobby Ray Parks, Kiefer Ravena, and Kobe Paras round up the lineup.
The FIBA Asia Cup is scheduled on August 8 to 20 in Beirut. While it’s longer a qualifying event for the World Cup or Olympics, it is branded as the continent’s premier tournament for national teams.
This year also marks the debut of Australia and New Zealand in the competition.
