WHILE Gilas Pilipinas has hit the ground running in Belgrade for the Olympic qualifying tournament, still gnawing at coach Tab Baldwin is prized guard Dwight Ramos’ recovery from a groin injury.
Baldwin admitted Ramos’ injury is a “major concern” before the all-amateur Philippine five tackles world No. 5 Serbia on July 1 and No. 19 Dominican Republic the next day at the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall.
“Dwight is a major concern. We’re just not seeing any improvement in the groin muscle.
It’s been four days now since he got the injury, and the trip doesn’t help his muscle problems,” Baldwin said last Saturday in The Chasedown.
“So, we’ll see if it will settle down in the next few days,” he added.
Ramon, 22, dazzled at home in the third window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers in a bubble in Clark, leading Gilas with 13.8 points on 43-percent shooting from deep, to go with 6.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.0 steals in 25.3 minutes.
Seven-foot-3 center Kai Sotto, naturalized player Ange Kouame, and Ramos lead the nationals’ campaign in the qualifiers where only one slot will be given to the champion in the Tokyo Games next month.
Completing the team are skipper Isaac Go, SJ Belangel, Jordan Heading, Geo Chu, Mike Nieto, William Navarro, Justine Baltazar, RJ Abarrientos, and Carl Tamayo.
Left at home were Javi Gomez de Liaño, Jaydee Tungcab, and LeBron Lopez.
The American-New Zealander tactician of reigning three-time UAAP champion Ateneo is glum on Ramos’ situation.
“I’m guardedly pessimistic,” Baldwin said. “There’s really no point in making an assessment on something that could change overnight.”
The Filipinos proved untouchable in the Asia Cup tilt with a perfect 6-0 record to book a spot in the Asia Cup proper in August in Indonesia.
Clinching that coveted one slot in the Tokyo Olympic Games next month is a tall task, with Gilas not given much chance against world-ranked opposition.
To toughen up for the Olympic qualifiers, Gilas battled powerhouse China to a 79-all standoff in a tune-up match last week behind closed doors at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center in Pampanga where Ramos sat out.
