MANILA – Thirteen players made the flight for Gilas Pilipinas to the Middle East for the fifth window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.
In an announcement late Monday night, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas said Ginebra's Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar and Jamie Malonzo, TNT's RR Pogoy, Calvin Oftana and Poy Erram, San Miguel's CJ Perez, San-En's Thirdy Ravena, Nagoya's Ray-Ray Parks, Hokkaido's Dwight Ramos, Ateneo's Ange Kouame, and La Salle's Kevin Quiambao would don the Philippine colors as Gilas takes on Jordan and Saudi Arabia this weekend.
This effectively means that NorthPort's William Navarro and Arvin Tolentino, Shiga's Kiefer Ravena, and unattached forward LeBron Lopez missed the cut.
Ravena was actually the latest to beg off as he underwent a dental operation on his wisdom tooth.
However, it also means Gilas will be playing without a legitimate pure point guard.
Meralco's Chris Newsome, San Miguel's June Mar Fajardo, and University of the Philippines' Carl Tamayo already let go of their spots due to injuries.
Gilas departed for Amman at 11 p.m. Monday but not without some more training as the team did a practice session earlier in the day. (PNA)
