WHO will be tapped by Gilas Pilipinas coach Tab Baldwin and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas for the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers next month?
The SBP has yet to announce the composition of the national team training pool for the February window where the nationals face a tough task.
The Gilas program under Baldwin has nine players with existing but expiring contracts at the end of this month, all of whom were picked in the special Gilas draft in 2019 last year, namely, Isaac Go, Rey Suerte, Matt and Mike Nieto, Allyn Bulanadi, Jordan Heading, William Navarro, Jaydee Tungcab, and Tzaddy Rangel.
Other players from the collegiate ranks are La Salle big man Justine Baltazar and naturalized player Ange Kouame of reigning three-time champion Ateneo.
The previous members of the Gilas training pool who signed overseas were Kai Sotto (Adelaide), Dwight Ramos (Toyama Grouses), Thirdy Ravena (San-En NeoPhoenix), Kemark Cariño (Aomori Wat’s), Javi Gomez de Liaño (Ibaraki Robots), Kobe Paras (Niigata Albirex), and Jordan Heading (Taichung).
Juan Gomez de Liaño saw action for Tokyo Z but is now a free agent in the Japan B. League.
South Korea bared its 14-man pool for the qualifiers last Wednesday, led by naturalized player Ra Gun-A (Ricardo Ratliffe).
The Philippines will host Group A games of the qualifiers next month at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
These matches are two Gilas-South Korea tiffs, two New Zealand-India duels, Gilas-New Zealand, Gilas-India, South Korea-India, and South Korea-New Zealand tussles.
Japan will host two Group B games in Sendai: China-Japan and Japan-China.
Both games between Australia and Chinese Taipei will be played during the February window.
