GILAS PILIPINAS has called up Converge’s Justine Baltazar as the Nationals deal with frontline issues ahead of the second window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
The Philippine quintet brought in the 6-foot-9 Mr. Baltazar to help regulars June Mar Fajardo and AJ Edu man the paint with Kai Sotto and Quentin Millora-Brown (QMB) unlikely to play in the tough Group A matches against New Zealand on Feb. 26 and Australia on March 1.
Mr. Baltazar, who averaged 14.8 points and 14.2 rebounds and finished fourth in the race for the Best Player of the Conference award in the last PBA Philippine Cup, attended Gilas’ first training at the Upper Deck on Monday.
His length and inside presence should help fill some gap in the absence of the 7-foot-3 Mr. Sotto and the 6-foot-10 Mr. Millora-Brown, whom coach Tim Cone has virtually ruled out of the two home gigs.
Mr. Cone, in a report by Spin.ph, said QMB “chose not to join Gilas” for the window while Mr. Sotto, who just returned from a year-long recovery from ACL, is “reluctant because of the injury factor.”
Mr. Baltazar is the only new face in Mr. Cone’s pool for Window 2 with his Converge teammate Juan Gomez de Liaño back after previously serving pool duties last November.
They joined Justin Brownlee, Mr. Fajardo, Scottie Thompson, Calvin Oftana, CJ Perez, Chris Newsome, RJ Abarrientos, and Troy Rosario in the first sessions of the scheduled 10-day camp.
Mr. Edu, along with fellow overseas-based players Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao, and Carl Tamayo are expected to be on board in the next few days.
Gilas holds pole position in Group A with four points and +65 points difference (PD) on account of its two-game sweep of Guam, 87-46 and 95-71. Powerhouse Australia also posted a perfect 2-0 (+7 PD) in the opening window at the expense of New Zealand, 84-79, and 79-77.
This makes the winless Tall Blacks even more determined to bounce back and beat the Filipinos in the duel set at the MOA Arena. — Olmin Leyba