On the bubble

The Future
(Photo credit: Arvin Lim, news.abs-cbn.com)

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tab Baldwin is all set to announce his final 14-man roster for the coming FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, to be held next July, later today. Unfortunately, it has come down to a matter of "who is still healthy/ willing to play for flag and country" this deep into the local basketball calendar.

Still on the list are: Marcio Lassiter, Junemar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Ranidel de Ocampo, Troy Rosario, Calvin Abueva, Marc Pingris, Gabe Norwood, Ryan Reyes, Ray Parks, Jayson Castro, LA Tenorio, Terrence Romeo, Kiefer Ravena, Moala Tautuaa, Jeffrei Chan. Already assured of a slot is naturalized center Andray Blatche, who is thankfully in shape this time around.

A few entries ago, we came up with a list of 12 guys. But since we are now allowed 14, it is time to revisit that list and maybe address a few areas of concern.


Number one is Lassiter, who has not been practicing as of late no thanks to a bout with bronchitis. We are not sure how serious it is, but we have never really heard of a player not playing because of severe coughing. Colds, yes, but cough?

If you say so then...

That trims the list of local players down to 15.

Moala Tautuaa is out because he is ineligible under FIBA rules.

HEY WAIT! 14!

So who do we cut, to make room for Blatche?

We know that Chan is nursing a groin injury while Reyes has legitimate ankle concerns (this guy has been robbed of playing for flag and country for how many times now). Do you drop Chan, a shooter, in favor of Reyes, a combo guard/ rebounder with a corner pocket 3? Or do you drop Reyes instead?

Do you drop healthy young studs like Kiefer Ravena and Ray Parks Jr., to accommodate the above mentioned, injured, veterans?

We say no.

If Chan has a groin injury, then we will just have to get our shooting elsewhere. Romeo is always willing. Castro has improved. Our frontline, save for Pingris, can shoot it. Ravena also has a respectable touch from the outside.

If Reyes is hurt, or even limps to practice, we would drop him from this group. There is no point to risk a spot for him right now, if we are to take the OQT seriously. We need warm bodies. We do not need guys sitting on the bench. Parks is unproven on the PBA stage, but something tells us he'll be an easy fit on this team.

But still, there are 14 slots available. So we do not really need to cut anymore than we have to. There are guys on the Cadet pool that are nice: Kevin Ferrer, Mac Belo and Mike Tolomia, but they are probably a bit raw at this point.

So there, thanks (or no thanks) to injuries, here is our Gilas 14:

PG
Castro
Romeo
Tenorio

SG
Chan
Ravena

SF
Norwood
Abueva
Parks

PF
De Ocampo
Pingris
Rosario

C
Blatche
Fajardo
Aguilar

If Lassiter changes his mind/ gets healthy, we'd sub him in for our guy Chan. Reyes is our guy, being an SLR die-hard before the team, well, died. But the guy is just injury-prone. Grant Hill-like.

Who do you think should make the cut?