Still no green light for Dwight

MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas is hoping injured do-it-all guard Dwight Ramos will recover in time for the kickoff of the FIBA Olympic Qualification Tournament in Belgrade, Serbia on Thursday.

The 6-foot-4 Ramos suffered a strained groin during the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers and recovery has been slow so far, reported coach Tab Baldwin.

“Dwight is a major concern. We’re not seeing any major improvement in the groin muscle,” Baldwin said in yesterday’s The Chasedown on Cignal TV.

“It’s been four days since he got the injury and the trip doesn’t help his muscle problems so we’ll see if it will settle down in the next few days,” he added.

Youth-laden Gilas takes on world No. 5 and host Serbia on Wednesday night (2:30 a.m. Thursday in Manila) then world No. 19 the Dominican Republic the next day in group play.

Ramos was the most consistent among the Gilas young guns in the last campaign, averaging 13.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and two steals in six games against South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand.

His absence, if ever, will leave the other Gilas players with big shoes to fill in the tough OQT campaign.

“I’m guardedly optimistic,” said Baldwin, adding “there’s really no point in making an assessment on something that could change overnight,” said Baldwin.

The good news, though, is that big man Carl Tamayo, who sprained his ankle in the game against Indonesia, is expected to be fit for the OQT matches.

“Carl will probably go through training this morning. We’ll see if he can get through the live stuff. He’s hours away from getting back to be able to contribute,” said Baldwin.

From his hotel room in Belgrade, Baldwin told the weekly program the 20-member Gilas contingent arrived in the Serbian capital last Friday via Turkey.

They actually encountered some scary moments during the connecting flight from Istanbul, where the pilot aborted takeoff a few seconds before wheels up. The passengers were made to disembark then board a different plane.

“It was a frightening few moments but everybody’s safe. We arrived a little bit later than scheduled but safe. We’re all settled in now, we just had breakfast and we’re getting ready to go to practice,” said Baldwin.