For the first time in seven months, Andray Blatche took part in a Gilas Pilipinas practice, Monday evening at the Meralco Gym in Pasig City.
The naturalized Filipino missed the fourth and fifth windows of the 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers – three games of which were due to a suspension imposed by FIBA stemming from the Gilas-Australia brawl last July.
Blatche, who averaged 11 points and 11 rebounds in Gilas’ first six games in the Qualifiers, arrived Friday evening.
Joining him in practice were Troy Rosario, JP Erram, Gabe Norwood, Scottie Thompson, Mark Barroca, Roger Pogoy, Jayson Castro, June Mar Fajardo, and Raymond Almazan.
Japeth Aguilar and Paul Lee were also in attendance but were in street clothes. Aguilar sustained an ankle injury last Saturday when Ginebra faced Columbian, while Lee sprained his thumb last night during Magnolia’s game against TNT.
Marcio Lassiter and Thirdy Ravena were not present.
Gilas Pilipinas takes on Qatar in Doha on February 21 before finishing their campaign against Kazakhstan in Astana on the 24th. The Philippines holds a 5-5 record in Group F.
