Already playing with an undermanned lineup, Gilas Pilipinas didn’t field its full roster during the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament with Mason Amos not seeing action in the three games they played.
Gilas head coach Tim Cone shared that Amos came into the pool late as he was tapped to fill in for the team missing the services of injured players Scottie Thompson, Jamie Malonzo, and AJ Edu.
But his time at the training camp was not enough for him to get a full grasp of Cone’s system, which is built around the chemistry of the players.
“We were good with 11 guys in the last OQT. We only played 10, actually, in the OQT and I feel really bad about this, but we never got Mason Amos to play and one of the reasons we didn’t get Mason Amos to play is because he was new to the pool, new to the team,” Cone said during a press conference on Monday.
“And we didn’t really get him into the system well enough because he wasn’t in the first window. But Mason was really valuable to us.”
But Cone reiterated that Amos, alongside another late addition in Japeth Aguilar, will continue to be part of the training pool.
The two will serve as the alternates for the original 12-man roster that includes Kai Sotto, June Mar Fajardo, Justin Brownlee, Dwight Ramos, Chris Newsome, CJ Perez, Calvin Oftana, Kevin Quiambao, and Carl Tamayo.
Cone added that they still await the clearance of the three injured players.
The veteran coach said Thompson and Edu are likely to return by November, where they will return to action to compete in the second window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. Malonzo, on the other hand, remains in doubt as he is still nursing a calf injury he sustained last PBA season.
“Hopefully we got Scottie back, we don’t know exactly, but I think he’ll be back in November. AJ says he wants to play in November. The only one who’s maybe doubtful for November would be Jamie Malonzo.”
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
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