Gilas assembles for home gigs

MANILA, Philippines —  Looking to sustain the gains from its strong showing in the Paris Olympics Qualifiers in Latvia, Gilas Pilipinas reconvenes on Friday, raring to accomplish a new mission: Beat New Zealand and Hong Kong in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.

Tim Cone’s charges, including AJ Edu, who missed the last campaign due to a knee injury, will have their usual stay-in sessions at Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna to reconnect and brush up on their system.

The Nationals have six days of build-up before tackling world No. 22 and fellow 2-0 record-holder New Zealand in the first of their two Group B home assignments on Nov. 21 at the MOA Arena. After three days, they shoot for a repeat against a Hong Kong team (0-2) that they previously demolished on the road in February, 94-64.

Cone’s Gilas crew returns to action four months after scoring a historic 89-80 upset of host Latvia in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament and coming two wins short of qualifying for Paris.

Ginebra’s Justin Brownlee and Scottie Thompson and TNT’s Calvin Oftana team up for the flag a week after disputing the Governors’ Cup crown. Edu and overseas-based players Dwight Ramos, Kai Sotto and Carl Tamayo fly home to rejoin the squad as San Miguel’s June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez and Meralco’s Chris Newsome report for duties after their East Asia Super League outings tomorrow.

Ivorian-born naturalized player Ange Kouame, who’s playing for the Bolts in the EASL, is entering the camp, too.

Brownlee intends to use this gig to bounce back from his disappointing outing in Ginebra’s 2-4 setback to TNT in the battle for the GC crown.

“Definitely still got a responsibility to go out there fight for the country. And we got two tough opponents –New Zealand and Hong Kong,” said Brownlee. “We have a few days before going to training camp, just get ready for that and prepare with the team and try to do our best.”

JB leads Gilas in points (21) and efficiency (32.5) in the ACQ while being the team’s second-best rebounder with 10 behind Sotto (12.5) and No. 2 in assists with 6 behind Thompson (9).