Thursday night’s Gilas Pilipinas practice at the Meralco Gym in Pasig City received a low turnout among participants, with only 10 players suiting up in the over-an-hour-long session — one man short of Tuesday’s attendance.
“Si Jio [Jalalon] may sakit eh. Jio is in the hospital. He had to be confined. Then Rain or Shine, may team [building] ata sa Davao [kaya wala si Mike] Tolomia. I think Alaska is in Batangas, so wala rin si Carl Cruz,” explained Nationals head coach Chot Reyes.
“That’s why we didn’t have a lot of guys here.”
But surprisingly, the six-foot-eight American Michael Myers — TNT Katropa’s backup to Joshua Smith in case his injury worsens — showed up in the facility and participated in Gilas’ drills sessions.
#LabanPilipinas @TalkNText import Mike Myers shows up in tonight's practice pic.twitter.com/dQDbxwYNsD
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) June 22, 2017
As it turns out, Reyes and the rest of the Gilas staff are actually looking to field in the wide-bodied import in one of Gilas’ tournaments abroad, particularly the 2017 William Jones Cup in Taiwan, which is set from July 29 to August 2.
“Well he’s here. As you know he’s the back-up for Joshua Smith. If things materialize, we’re thinking of bringing him with us in the Jones Cup,” bared the 53-year-old veteran tactician.
And with that, the New Jersey native is now another possible candidate for naturalization, according to the five-time Coach of the Year.
“For now everyone that we could bring in, of course, are possible candidates. The urgent thing is for us to get an import or a naturalized player possible for the Jones Cup,” said Reyes.
