MANILA, Philippines – Nothing is certain yet regarding the inclusion of Calvin Abueva and Jason Perkins in the final 12 of Gilas Pilipinas in the Asian Games, national team head coach Tim Cone said.
In a message to Philstar.com Tuesday, Cone said that they heard the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee “will say no” to their petition to include Abueva and Perkins to the team.
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But, the team will be “exploring other avenues” regarding the inclusion of the two forwards.
“As of now, we've heard they will say no, but we're exploring other avenues, so it's still a maybe,” Cone told Philstar.com.
Perkins and Abueva were not included in the original list of 60 players submitted by the national team almost two months ago.
But with Chot Reyes’s decision to “step aside” from national team duties after the FIBA World Cup, and the injuries to both Jamie Malonzo and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, Cone named Abueva and Perkins to the team.
However, it needed a petition for them to be included.
Cone insisted that as of now, there is “nothing official” yet with the situation.
“Honestly, we're still working on it,” the coach said.
Gilas is set to fly to China later this week, as they kick off their basketball tournament against Bahrain on Septembe 26.