Slaughter eager to join Nationals in next FIBA Asian qualifiers window

MANILA, Philippines — Despite being relegated to the sidelines, Greg Slaughter couldn’t help but feel thrilled over the potential of his team, and the lengths they’d reach in the near future.

Sitting out the closed-door game against Qatar last Monday as part of his recovery process, Slaughter chimed in his contributions through cheering. He also said he can’t wait until the next window opens.

“I’m excited,” the Ginebra center said. “Since I found out that my eligibility was cleared, I just can't wait to get back out there. I got my sights set on the next window. It'll come quicker than you think, just got to get ready.”

Slaughter, who ws born in Texas to a Filipino mother, hurt his left ankle days before the Nationals opened their training camp for the game against Iran. He still managed to join the delegation in Tehran, which put up a gallant three quarters worth of fight before faltering.

And that built the excitement going into the game where the Filipnos hosted the Qataris in a rather bizaare setup. 

Slaughter noted that the idea of hosting the Iranians in the fifth window pumps him up.

“[That] was just our first game,” he recalled. [we] just got together. We were right there until the end. But watching that, I can't wait for them to get here (in the Philippines).”

By the time the Philippines hosts Iran in the capital, fans can again see the action live. But the Nationals will remain extra wary of their behavior as they still serves a probationary period for the incident they figured in last July 2.

And by that time the matches commence, both Slaughter and June Mar Fajardo are again healthy, and are able to finally form the frontcourt tandem many Filipino fans are so eager to see.

“It sounds exciting, [though] we still need time to work on things and get together,” Slaughter commented. “We've never had a chance to play together. We need time to jell and hopefully, we can reach the potential everyone sees in us.”