Gilas not feeling shorthanded despite missing key cogs

MANILA, Philippines -- Despite the “big blow” of missing three men in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT), Gilas Pilipinas will focus on a next-man-up mentality as they battle heavyweights Latvia and Georgia next week.

Gilas will not be fielding three key cogs in the tourney – guard Scottie Thompson, wing Jamie Malonzo and big man AJ Edu.

Thompson has a bulging disc on his back, while Malonzo suffered a calf injury back in April. Edu is still recovering from a torn meniscus.

Naturalized player Justin Brownlee, after Gilas’ 74-64 win over the Taiwan Mustangs on Monday, said that while the team will surely miss the services of the three, Mason Amos and Japeth Aguilar stepping up will be huge.

“That’s definitely a big blow for us. Obviously Scottie, Jamie and AJ, he didn’t play with us the last FIBA window. Those three guys definitely bring a lot to the table and you know, it’s definitely gonna hurt us. But, we got some guys stepping up,” Brownlee told reporters after the game.

“Mason coming over and Japeth, you know he’s been with Gilas for years now. He had a lot of experience, but we definitely have those [three] guys in our hearts once we travel and play our game but definitely very unfortunate,” he added.

“Sometimes, you just got to have the next-man-up mentality. I think like I said, Mason, Japeth of course, guys stepping up and trying to fill that role.”

Gilas will have an 11-man army ahead of the OQT.

Brownlee, Amos, Aguilar, June Mar Fajardo, Kai Sotto, Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao, Calvin Oftana, Chris Newsome, CJ Perez and Carl Tamayo make up the team that left the country on Tuesday.

Before the OQT, Gilas will be facing Turkiye and Poland in friendlies.

Head coach Tim Cone stressed that he will really miss the play of Thompson in the qualifiers, as he described his Barangay Ginebra point guard as an “infectious player.”

But in spite of this, Cone stressed that he does not feel shorthanded.

“I'm not a guy who plays 11 or 12 guys anyway. I'm a really 8 or 9 man rotation. The reason you have 12 guys is not necessarily for the game but to have 12 guys in practice—to have extra bodies in practice and in case somebody goes down. So I don't feel shorthanded at all,” he said.

“We don't feel shorthanded. We talked to the 11 guys. They're 11 strong and they feel we’re okay… It’s not a big of a deal, it's not that big of a deal that we're just 11-strong.”