Calvin Abueva, Terrence Romeo attend first Gilas practice for Asian Games
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 11) — Calvin Abueva and Terrence Romeo were the notable players who attended Gilas Pilipinas' first practice on Monday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City for the 19th Asian Games.
The two last wore the country's colors during the infamous brawl between Gilas and Australia in the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers at the Philippine Arena in 2018.
Abueva and Romeo joined fellow new faces Stanley Pringle, Jason Perkins, and Mo Tautuaa in the training 12 days before the start of the Asiad basketball tournament.
FIBA World Cup players June Mar Fajardo, Scottie Thompson, RR Pogoy, Japeth Aguilar were also in attedance together with naturalized big men Justin Brownlee and Ange Kouame, and PBA cagers Chris Newsome and Calvin Oftana.
Interim Gilas head coach Tim Cone said he is satisfied with the players they will be fielding in the quadrennial meet.
However, the status of Abueva and Perkins is still uncertain as they were not included in the initial list of 60 players the Philippine Olympic Committee submitted to the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (HAGOC).
“This is what we expect. We still got Perkins and Calvin Abueva who are 100-percent sure to be on the team if they are allowed to be on the team,” he said.
“They weren't on the original of 60 that were submitted so because of Jamie's (Malonzo) injury and Brandon's (Ganuelas-Rosser) injury, we are asking for a ruling that can replace them with Calvin and Perk,” he added.
Meanwhile, Pringle is one of the team’s reserves in case the HAGOC rejects the inclusion of Abueva and Perkins in the final lineup.
"Stanley is here as an alternate, as a 13th man. He's an alternate if anything happens, in case Calvin and Perk can't make it. He'll be one of the guys that we'll place in the lineup or in case somebody gets injured as such," Cone said.
Gilas is set to play Korean squad Changwon LG Sakers next week as part of its buildup for the Asian Games.
