Chot Reyes will have to work with an entirely new crew for the 32nd Southeast Asian Games.
June Mar Fajardo has yet to train with Gilas Pilipinas with just nine days left before the regional meet as he is still recovering from a medial collateral ligament (MCL) tear, according to Gilas team manager Butch Antonio.
The one-time SEA Games gold medalist tore his MCL during San Miguel’s game against Ryukyu in the 2023 EASL Champions Week tournament last March 2.
With Fajardo and Roger Pogoy out, there will be no player from the team that settled for silver last year in this year’s squad.
Questionable for the tournament is Japeth Aguilar, who is also dealing with an MCL injury.
Also out for personal reasons are Ginebra’s Jamie Malonzo and TNT’s Mikey Williams.
According to Gilas officials, the team already knew beforehand that the two will not be able to join Gilas as the two needed to get back to the United States after the PBA season had ended.
Also in the US is Kevin Alas for a long-delayed honeymoon.
Meanwhile, Window 6 subs Jerom Lastimosa and Deschon Winston were not part of the practices as well.
According to multiple sources closely monitoring the situation, Lastimosa never got invited back to train with the national team. Ditto for Winston, who is now back in the US.
AJ Edu, on the other hand, will have his college graduation from Toledo next month, making him unavailable for the meet.
In a report by Spin.ph on Wednesday, there were just 11 players who attended Gilas’ practice at Meralco Gym.
Part of the entry by name that joined the practice were CJ Perez, Chris Ross, Chris Newsome, Christian Standhardinger, Aaron Black, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, Arvin Tolentino, Mason Amos, and the Phillips bros.
Sean Anthony also attended the practice but he is not part of the entry submitted by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas to the Philippine Olympic Committee last March.
Justin Brownlee is still expected to banner the squad.
However, the status of Marcio Lassiter, Scottie Thompson, Stanley Pringle, Calvin Oftana, Poy Erram, Raymond Almazan, Jeremiah Gray, and Kevin Quiambao remain uncertain.
