Gilas Pilipinas–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
The Philippines wakes up to the result of Gilas Pilipinas’ first test in the four-nation Doha International Cup on Saturday morning, with the outcome only going to matter for a good few hours.
The Nationals, after battling the hosts in the wee hours of Saturday (Manila time), take on continental rival and World No. 28 Lebanon at 11 p.m. in one of the three games expected to not only prime the Filipinos for a pair of return games against vengeful opponents but also simulate how things are going to be with program cornerstone Kai Sotto on the mend.
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All eyes, expectedly, will be on naturalized ace Justin Brownlee and cornerstones Dwight Ramos and June Mar Fajardo. But the spotlight should also shine just as brightly on AJ Edu, the comebacking center who is finally making his debut for the Tim Cone-led program and will be shouldering much of the burden of Sotto’s absence.
“We’re excited about bringing in AJ,” the national coach said of the Filipino Cypriot big man, who is set to play his first official game after battling a knee problem.
Edu, however, is expected to be put under minute restrictions to preserve him for the rematches against Chinese Taipei and New Zealand in the third and final window of the Asia Cup qualifiers set on Feb. 20 and 23, respectively.
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“Our thought right now is maybe AJ only plays two games of three in Doha. Things like that. Justin will play limited minutes in one of the games, too. We’ll try to load-manage guys so that they’ll be a little fresh for Taiwan and New Zealand,” said Cone.
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“The one we hate to miss the most is Kai. We’ll be missing Kai. But the good news is we’re going to have AJ, Jamie [Malonzo] back. Jamie—we’re hoping to continue to round into form. And we’ll see how [Kevin Quiambao] is.”
Also in the roster for the short Doha meet are Mason Amos, Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana, CJ Perez, Scottie Thompson and Troy Rosario, who came in as a replacement for many-time skipper Japeth Aguilar.
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