Cone shifts focus to Asian Games Gilas team with Abarrientos, Arana, Baltazar expected

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone will now shift his focus to the Asian Games, with some members of his FIBA squad also expected to join the Philippine men’s basketball team’s gold medal defense campaign.

Following the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, Cone said the national team will return to practice on Tuesday.

“It’s strictly going to be a PBA team along with hopefully Justin [Brownlee],” Cone said.

Brownlee has been recovering from injuries that kept him out of the previous FIBA window.

Still, some members of the FIBA team are expected to join the Asian Games pool, including Justin Arana, Justine Baltazar, and RJ Abarrientos.

“Yes, well, Justin and Balti are going on the team. RJ is also on the Asian Games team, and you know, we called Justin. Justin started with us at the window and then we moved him over to the Asian Games team.

“He played in the scrimmage with the Asian Games team, and then when Carl [Tamayo] got injured, we brought him back for the window. But he’s been practicing regularly with the Asian Games team,” Cone added.

The national team will head to South Korea for a series of tuneup games before flying to Japan for the Asian Games.

The Philippines will open its gold medal defense against Bahrain on September 11, followed by Kazakhstan on September 12 and China on September 14.

—JMB, GMA News