GILAS Pilipinas leaves for Doha, Qatar for what would be a back-breaking five-day training camp as its gears up for its FIBA Asia Cup campaign.
The national team headed by coach Tim Cone departs for the Qatari capital Thursday morning, less than 24 hours after breaking camp in a two-day training session at the Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna.
Making up the team are June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, Scottie Thompson, Calvin Oftana, Troy Rosario, Jamie Malonzo, AJ Edu, Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao, Mason Amos, and naturalized player Justine Brownlee.
Chris Newsome and Carl Tamayo will join the rest of Gilas Pilipinas in Qatar as they will travel straight from Chinese Taipei and South Korea, respectively. Newsome saw action for the Meralco Bolts in the East Asia Super League (EASL) against the New Taipei Kings, while Tamayo played for Changwon LG Sakers in the Korean Basketball League (KBL).
Assisting Cone on the bench are deputies Richard Del Rosario, Jong Uichico, and Sean Chambers.
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Gilas Pilipinas team manager and program director Alfrancis Chua is also joining Gilas in its Doha sojourn along with PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial.
"Ang mangyayari, Feb. 13, 14, 15, 16 (training camp) and then 17 uwi kami ng gabi," Chua disclosed of the team's compact itinerary.
"Ang then alis na ulit ng umaga (Feb. 18) for Taiwan."
After the Qatar camp, Gilas will be leaving for Chinese Taipei as it plays the final leg of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
The Filipinos, who already qualified for the tournament proper set in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in August, battle the Taiwanese on Feb. 20, and then proceed to New Zealand for their rematch against the Tall Blacks on Feb. 23.
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In Qatar, Gilas will play friendlies against the national teams of the host country (Feb. 14), Lebanon (Feb. 15), and Egypt (Feb. 16).
"We are going to use this as a chance to prepare for the FIBA Asia Cup. It's early, but it's the only time we're going to have," said Cone of the Doha training camp. (RG)
