GILAS PILIPINAS has called on Converge's Justin Baltazar to tackle frontline issues ahead of the second window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
The Philippine quintet included the 6-foot-9 Mr. Baltazar to help keep regulars Jun Mar Fajardo and AJ Adu on task, as Kai Sotto and Quentin Milora-Brown (QMB) are unlikely to play in the tough Group A matches against New Zealand on February 26 and Australia on March 1.
Mr. Baltazar, who averaged 14.8 points and 14.2 rebounds and finished fourth in the race for the conference's best player award in the last PBA Philippine Cup, attended Gilas' first training on the upper deck on Monday.
His length and interior presence will help fill some of the gaps in the absence of the 7-foot-3 Mr. Soto and the 6-foot-10 Mr. Milora-Brown, who coach Tim Cone has virtually ruled out of two home events.
In a report by Spin.PH, Mr. Kon said that QMB “decided not to join the Glass” for the window, while Mr. Sotto, who just returned from a year-long recovery from an ACL tear, “is reluctant due to injury.”
Mr. Baltazar is the only new face in Mr. Cone's pool for Window 2, with his Converge teammate Juan Gomez de Liano returning after pool duty last November.
He joined Justin Brownlee, Mister Fajardo, Scottie Thompson, Kelvin Oftana, CJ Perez, Chris Newsome, RJ Abarrientos and Troy Rosario in the first session of a scheduled 10-day camp.
Mr Edu, along with fellow foreign-based players Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao and Carl Tamayo, are expected to come on board in the next few days.
Gilas defeated Guam 87-46 and 95-71 in two games to top Group A with four points and a +65 point differential (PD). Powerhouse Australia also went 2-0 (+7 PD) in the opening window, costing New Zealand 84-79 and 79-77.
This makes the winless Tall Black even more determined to bounce back and defeat the Filipino in the duel set at the MOA Arena. — Olmin Leyba