MANILA, Philippines -- Barangay Ginebra forward Japeth Aguilar is unlikely to be available for the Philippine national team in the upcoming FIBA World Cup Asian qualifying window.

This, according to Ginebra coach Tim Cone, who told reporters on Sunday that Aguilar is still in the early stages of recovery from a knee sprain.

Aguilar did not play in the Gin Kings' huge 118-88 loss to arch-rivals Magnolia Hotshots in the Manila Clasico at the Mall of Asia Arena, their first loss of the 2023 PBA Governors' Cup. The veteran forward had his knee immobilized during the game, having suffered the injury against the NLEX Road Warriors last February 8.

• READ: Magnolia drops Ginebra in Clasico blow out

"He won't be back for this weekend, that's for sure," said Cone of Aguilar, referring to their next assignment against San Miguel Beer on Friday night.

"It's whenever we can get him back into practice. That's really up to the doctors at this point. He's still immobilized, as you can tell. He's still working with a cast, the soft cast," he added. "We're just kinda doing it day by day, to see how long he needs that, before he can start strengthening. He's not even strengthening yet."

Aguilar is part of Gilas Pilipinas' 24-man pool for the sixth and final window of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers on February 24 and 27, but Cone does not believe that he will be ready to play by then.

"I think it's less than 50% that he'll play in the window, but we're hoping sometime after the window, we can get him back in the lineup," said Cone, who is also part of Chot Reyes' coaching staff in the national team.

"Coach Chot is gonna have to make a decision on the window," Cone also said.

It's a blow for Gilas Pilipinas, which is already expected to miss the contributions of Japan-bound Kai Sotto for their games against Lebanon on February 24 and Jordan on February 27.

"We don't want to mess with Japeth, and his knee, his legs are his calling card. He's such a tremendous athlete. He needs all his athleticism before he can get back into the line-up," said Cone.

Aguilar, 36, is averaging 13.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in two appearances for Barangay Ginebra in the season-ending conference.

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