Ginebra core shores up Gilas for road games vs Australia, New Zealand

MANILA, Philippines – There is no rest for the weary for the Barangay Ginebra core fresh off a PBA championship.

Justin Brownlee, Scottie Thompson, RJ Abarrientos, and Troy Rosario, who played key roles in the Gin Kings’ conquest of the Commissioner’s Cup on Wednesday, June 17, get hardly any chance for a break as they represent Gilas Pilipinas in the third window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers in two weeks. 

The four are part of the 12-man roster that will play back-to-back road games, first against New Zealand in Auckland on July 3, then against Australia in Perth on July 6. 

Beefing up the squad to be coached by Ginebra mentor Tim Cone are former La Salle twin towers Justine Baltazar and Mike Phillips, who give the national team much-needed size as it continues to be without 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto and misses 6-foot-10 Quentin Millora-Brown.

Six-foot-nine Baltazar dons the national colors for the first time in five years, while 6-foot-8 Phillips debuts in FIBA play after the world governing body for basketball reclassified him as a local. 

Mainstays Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, June Mar Fajardo, Chris Newsome, Kevin Quiambao, and Carl Tamayo complete the lineup.

Those who played in previous windows that are not part of the current roster include CJ Perez, Juan Gomez de Liaño, and Calvin Oftana.

Oftana, part of the TNT team that lost to Ginebra in the PBA finals, says he will sit out two months to recover from his injuries. 

Sitting at third in Group A with a 2-2 record, the Philippines needs to at least keep its spot to advance to the second round of the qualifiers. – Rappler.com