Gilas Pilipinas to compete in Jordan as part of FIBA Asia Cup preps

Gilas Pilipinas will be heading to Jordan later this week as part of their preparations for the FIBA Asia Cup scheduled in August.

The men's national basketball team will play in the King Abdullah Cup hosted by the Jordan Basketball Federation from July 25 to August 3.

Gilas is currently inside a bubble training camp in Laguna, with 19 members of the national pool, led by Thirdy Ravena and some of the retained players of the team that competed in Serbia such as Dwight Ramos and SJ Belangel.

However, only 15 will fly to Jordan for the tournament.

“Entering the bubble is forced on all of us since we are heading to Jordan on the 23rd," head coach Tab Baldwin said in a statement. "It's the long-term vision of the program that we have to look at here. We have to take advantage of every minute of games that we can get."

“We’ll be going up against quality teams with different styles compared to the ones we faced in the Asia Cup Qualifiers,” he added.

Kai Sotto's availability for the tournament, meanwhile, is still under discussion.

According to the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Tunisia have also committed to join the pocket tournament.

“The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas wanted the team to get more games so we looked for the best possible option and decided that Jordan will be a great destination," SBP Special Assistant to the President Ryan Gregorio said in a statement.

Gregorio also said Saudi Arabia will use the tournament as part of its preparations for the final round of qualifiers for the FIBA Asia Cup.

The 2021 FIBA Asia Cup is scheduled on August 17 to 29 in Jakarta, Indonesia. — LA, GMA News