Romeo, Abueva unlikely to be eligible for Asiad

MANILA (UPDATED) — Gilas Pilipinas will have new additions to their pool for the 19th Asian Games as four of the players in their original roster are unlikely to be eligible.

Announced by head coach Tim Cone on Tuesday, coming into the squad are CJ Perez, Chris Ross, Kevin Alas, and Arvin Tolentino.

This is after Terrence Romeo, Calvin Abueva, Mo Tautuaa, and Jason Perkins’ entry to the team became uncertain after the Asiad’s organizers initially rejected their inclusion.

“We’ve heard that the answer is no, but we’ve not gotten anything official, and we’re trying different avenues to continue. In the meantime, we have to go to the list of 37, and I looked at that list and I tried to find four replacements,” said the Barangay Ginebra mentor on Tuesday during a press conference at the PBA Office.

Also joining in the mix is veteran gunner Marcio Lassiter who will be coming in to replace RR Pogoy who was ruled out due to health reasons.

Cone, SMC Sports Director and team official Alfrancis Chua, and Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) President Al Panlilio explained that from the initial 60-player official list, which was composed mostly of collegiate and overseas players, only Romeo and Tautuaa were included.

Thus, their initial appeal to the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (HAGOC) only included Abueva and Perkins.

• Some nat'l team rosters for Asiad still 'in limbo,' says POC chief

But the organizers only honored the second pool of players that included just 37 players. Romeo, Abueva, Tautuaa, and Perkins were nowhere to be found in that list.

When asked about how the 37-man lineup came about, Panlilio said that it is already irrelevant to how the squad is preparing right now.

“We’re just working with what we have now. I don’t want to go back anymore [on that list] because we are already here, and we’re trying to form a team that will compete,” the SBP chief said.

Perez, Alas, Tolentino, and Ross were all a part of the 37-man pool.

Meanwhile, the team is still waiting for the official and final decision of the Asiad organizers before deciding on their roster for the games.

“If the other four are still turned down, and we’ll know that in the next 24-48 hours, it doesn’t look good, so we’ll probably go with the [new] four that we have,” said Cone.

Gilas opens their campaign on September 26 against Bahrain.

• Tim Cone hopes Gilas can turn pressure into Asian Games success
• Asian Games: Tenorio makes Gilas return as ‘Coach LA’

RELATED VIDEO

Watch more News on iWantTFC