With 15 players in the pool, Yeng Guiao had the toughest job on Sunday afternoon, as he needed to trim his roster down to just 12 for Gilas Pilipinas’ home game against Qatar.
The tough cuts he had to make were Christian Standhardinger for the naturalized position, and Allein Malksi and Raymond Almazan. Called up to duty were Stanley Pringle, Matthew Wright, and Japeth Aguilar, respectively.
Moments after the lineup was announced, the duo of Maliksi and Almazan gladly practiced with the team, prepping them up before Monday night’s game.
Clearly, no hard feelings felt.
“We were given a chance to play na naman. The goal is to win and yun yung goal ng lahat,” shared Maliksi.
“Our job is just to play and do our responsibility as a player and kung ano yung role na binibigay ng coaches sa amin.”
“Wala namang problema doon eh. Everybody happy naman. Decision ng mga coaches yun. Wala sa amin yun. Maging part lang ng pool, happy na eh,” added Almazan.
“Lahat naman may chance maglaro, okay na ako doon.”
Given the chance, they did.
Maliksi played six games in the 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, totaling 30 minutes. Almazan, on the other hand, made his Qualifiers debut last September 13, finishing with five points and four rebounds in Gilas’ loss to Iran.
With Gilas’ game against Qatar being held behind closed doors, the two will serve as the team’s cheerleaders. And they vow to take this job to heart.
“Sabi nga ni coach, kung ako lang, gusto ko lahat kayo makapaglaro eh. Alam namin mahirap din sa coaching staff yun. Ready lang,” expressed the 29-year-old Almazan.
“We’re here to support kahit na na-cut kami.”
“Siyempre, nandito ako bukas. Kahit hindi kami naka-lineup nandito kami sa practice eh. So, we’re trying to help them as much as we could,“ added the 30-year-old Maliksi.
“In terms of cheering, mag-all out kami.”
