Philippine national men’s basketball team coach Chot Reyes revealed the 12 players who will go up against Japan in Gilas Pilipinas’ first game in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers on Friday in Tokyo.
Leading the charge is naturalized player Andray Blatche who will make his Gilas comeback. He last played for the Philippines in the 2017 SEABA Championship last May.
Also part of the roster are national team mainstays Jayson Castro, Calvin Abueva, Japeth Aguilar, June Mar Fajardo, Matthew Wright and Gabe Norwood.
Allein Maliksi, Troy Rosario and RR Pogoy also made the cut while young guards Kevin Alas and Kiefer Ravena complete the lineup.
Raymond Almazan, Mac Belo and Carl Bryan Cruz were excluded from the lineup although there’s a possibility that they could be in the roster for the Filipinos’ match against Chinese Taipei on Monday in Manila.
Explosive guard Terrence Romeo failed to join the team in Japan due to an injury.
