Missing Kiefer Ravena and Kevin Alas

Kiefer Ravena and Kevin Alas were in Gilas’ 12-man roster that coach Chot Reyes named for the game against Chinese-Taipei in the first FIBA Asia/Pacific qualifying window for the 2019 FIBA World Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last Nov. 27. Ravena had nine points, two rebounds and five assists in 15:37 minutes while Alas was one of three players who didn’t see action in the Philippines’ come-from-behind 90-83 win after trailing by 14.

When the Philippines and Taiwan battle in a rematch at the Heping Gymnasium in Taipei on Friday, both Ravena and Alas won’t be in the lineup.  Ravena is serving an 18-month FIBA suspension for turning out positive in a WADA random test while Alas is recovering from an ACL injury.

Reyes’ 12-man cast for Friday’s game is still up in the air. He will decide whom to enlist on Thursday. The 10 others who battled Chinese-Taipei in the first window are available, namely, Gabe Norwood, Jayson Castro, Calvin Abueva, Andray Blatche, JuneMar Fajardo, R. R. Pogoy, Troy Rosario, Allein Maliksi, Japeth Aguilar and Matthew Wright. Without Ravena and Alas, top candidates to fill in are Terrence Romeo, Baser Amer, Carl Bryan Cruz and Jio Jalalon. Reyes left Manila with 14 players – including the four candidates – for Taipei yesterday.  A 15th player, Fil-Am Troy Rike, joined the trip but isn’t eligible to play for Gilas as he wasn’t in the pool of 22 submitted to FIBA last June 11 and from which the final 12 will be picked. 

For Chinese-Taipei, five players were struck out from last November’s lineup – Yu An Chiang, Wen Cheng Tsai, Po Hsun Chou, Jhen Huang and Kai Yan Lee. Huang had 16 points against Gilas so he’ll be missed. Among the possible additions to Friday’s game are comebacking Taiwanese-American Doug Creighton and another Taiwanese-American Jonah Morrison who’s 6-8 and 18 years old. Anchoring the host squad will be naturalized import and Taiwan league Finals MVP Quincy Davis. The 6-8 Los Angeles-born former Tulane University center, 35, thought of retiring from the national team and returning to the US last year but was enticed to stay on with a fresh contract. This season, Davis was a six-time Player of the Week awardee in the Taiwan super league.

In four qualifying games so far, the Philippines has compiled a 3-1 record, beating Japan twice, 77-71 and 89-84, losing to Australia, 84-68 and defeating Chinese-Taipei. Reyes has rotated 15 players in the four outings – Abueva, Aguilar, Fajardo, Blatche, Ravena, Alas, Norwood, Jalalon, Rosario, Castro, Wright, Maliksi, Pogoy, Abu Tratter and Cruz. Only eight players have checked in for every contest – Abueva, Aguilar, Fajardo, Blatche, Ravena, Norwood, Wright and Pogoy.

Ravena said Reyes’ system is what makes Gilas tick. “With coach Chot, his program and system, all you have to do is to really trust it,” he said. “You have to back it up with hard work. Coach Chot will really give you all the confidence and opportunities, similar to coach Yeng (Guiao) at NLEX. He’ll give you all the opportunities to perform and show. He’ll always tell you that you’re here for a reason, because of how you play and he knows you can play so he’ll give you everything. In my first game against Japan, I was really nervous, anxious because imagine, subbing out for Jayson, the best point guard in Asia, and we played in Japan. I roomed with Jayson and we talked a lot, asking him for advice, in life and in basketball. It was really a big change for me, hearing it from Jayson himself, how he started, how he had a period of adjustment where he was still a bit shaky. At first, I didn’t believe it because we all know Jayson as Jayson.” Ravena scored only one point in his FIBA qualifying debut against Japan then in the rematch last February, collected 13 points, two rebounds and five assists.

Ravena said playing in the PBA is excellent training for FIBA. “We get used to play against imports and in FIBA, a lot of teams use naturalized imports,” he said. “You get used to playing against bigger guys, athletic guys and you get to practice your own game and how you finish and how you can create with bigger and lengthy guys. You get accustomed to the physical aspect of the game. Against Australia, the guards are 6-6 or 6-7 so you get used to it. Mahirap kung pipilitin mo yung sa iyo. You have to adjust to situations. For me, that’s the mark of a great player. You can adjust to every situation. If you’re placed in a team that you’re the only star player, how will you pull your teammates up? How will you help your teammates look better? How will you push them to be better? At the same time, vice versa. If you’re put in a team like Golden State, how will you adjust to Durant, Curry and Thompson? That will be your benchmark. How you’ll be able to play alongside other people, just like in life.”