Guiao to Unveil Gilas Shortlist Monday

Coach Yeng Guiao will name the 15 players, who will make up the Gilas Pilipinas training pool for the FIBA World Cup, during the team’s next practice on Monday night.

Right after the national team’s training session on Thursday night at the Meralco Gym in Pasig City, Guiao said the announcement of the shortlist will come in time for Andray Blatche’s arrival next week.

The former NBA veteran, Gilas’ naturalized center, was supposed to arrive as soon as Monday but still had to deal with a personal matter, particularly a child custody case, and could only come by Friday the earliest.

Blatche’s being a shoo-in in the final pool leaves 14 spots open for locals.

Matt Wright was the latest to include his name on the list of players to be considered for these spots as he joined the national team practice for the first time for the World Cup on Thursday night.

Also present were Japeth Aguilar, Raymond Almazan, Beau Belga, Junemar Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, Paul Lee, Gabe Norwood, CJ Perez, Stanley Pringle, and Kiefer Ravena.

Belga and Pringle joined the training as practice players. (PNA)