THE performance of Gilas Pilipinas veteran Japeth Aguilar in the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament in Riga, especially against world No. 12 Brazil in the semifinals, was not lost on armchair pundits and rabid fans.
While his play left a lot to be desired, National coach Tim Cone shielded the 6-foot-9 big man from all the hate.
“I begged Japeth to join us in Latvia,” Cone wrote yesterday on X (formerly Twitter).
“He wanted to let the young guys do it and spend more time with his wife and new baby,” he added.
Aguilar, 37, and reigning seven-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo were forced to play more minutes in Gilas’ numbing 60-71 loss to the Brazilians last Saturday night after 7-foot-3 center Kai Sotto suffered a rib injury in a 94-96 setback to Georgia last Thursday.
Named as an alternate, Aguilar should not have been included in the Philippine five’s OQT campaign but nagging knee issues ruled out 6-foot-10 AJ Edu in the make-or-break meet.
Cone, who coaches Aguilar at Ginebra, said his ward’s sacrifices for flag and country, notwithstanding his age and a growing family with the birth of his second child five months ago, should not be forgotten by his bashers.
“Kept begging him. When AJ Edu went down, he finally relented after more begging,” Cone said. “He led us, he was our team captain. His sacrifice for the country was total.”
The former Ateneo and Western Kentucky University cager normed 2.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in Latvia but bore the brunt of criticisms after he committed two turnovers against Brazil.
Aguilar had four points and six rebounds in the knockout duel.
The Filipino cagers will resume their bid in the second window of the Asia Cup qualifiers set on Nov. 21 and 24 after they completed a 2-0 sweep of the first round of the Asia Cup qualifiers last February.
