Gilas Pilipinas will go to Jordan later this week to prepare for the FIBA Asia Cup, which will take place in August.
From July 25 to August 3, the men’s national basketball team will compete in the Jordan Basketball Federation’s King Abdullah Cup.
Gilas is now in a bubble training camp in Laguna, with 19 members of the national pool, led by Thirdy Ravena and some of the team’s retained players, such as Dwight Ramos and SJ Belangel, from the team that participated in Serbia.
Only 15 people will travel to Jordan for the tournament.
“Entering the bubble is forced on all of us since we are heading to Jordan on the 23rd,” head coach Tab Baldwin said in a statement.
“It’s the long-term vision of the program that we have to look at here. We have to take advantage of every minute of games that we can get,” he added.
“We’ll be going up against quality teams with different styles compared to the ones we faced in the Asia Cup Qualifiers,” Baldwin further reiterated.
Meanwhile, Kai Sotto’s participation in the event is still up in the air.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Tunisia have also expressed interest in participating in the pocket tournament, according to the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).
“The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas wanted the team to get more games so we looked for the best possible option and decided that Jordan will be a great destination,” SBP Special Assistant to the President Ryan Gregorio said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia will also use the competition as part of their preparations for the FIBA Asia Cup final round of qualifiers, according to Gregorio.
The 2021 FIBA Asia Cup will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, from August 17 to 29.