Opisyal nang kasama si RJ Abarrientos sa roster ng Gilas Pilipinas para sa opening window ng FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers laban sa Guam.
Pinili ng head coach na si Tim Cone si Abarrientos mula sa Barangay Ginebra, habang hindi naisama sa Final 12 sina Juan Gomez de Liano ng Converge, comebacking Jamie Malonzo, at ang kapwa Ginebra teammate na si Troy Rosario.
Kasama ni Abarrientos sa Final 12 sina Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar, Justine Brownlee, Chris Newsome, Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, June Mar Fajardo, Kevin Quiambao, Carl Tamayo, CJ Perez, at ang bagong pasok na si Quentin Millora-Brown.
Aminado si Cone sa hirap ng pagpili: “We the staff had to make some really, really tough decisions coming in with the Final 12 because everybody came to work. And there’s no reason for anybody to be in or out. Everybody probably should be in. So we had to make the tough decisions of keeping Juan, Troy, and Jamie. We’ll gonna keep them home and go with the 12.”
Sa sendoff event ng national team sa VIP Lounge ng The Upper Deck Sports Center, dumalo rin sina SBP executive director Erika Dy, Gilas program director Alfrancis Chua, PBA commissioner Willie Marcial, at Jasper Vicencio, presidente ng Total Gamezone Xtreme Incorporated.
Ayon kay Cone, “These 12 are all ready to go. We’re happy we got everything done.” Samantala, binigyang-diin ni Chua ang kahalagahan ng darating na laban: “I think we’re ready and the players are focused. This is a very important window.”
Ang Gilas ay maglalaro ng dalawang mahahalagang laro sa Guam, bahagi ng kanilang kampanya sa FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers. (RON TOLENTINO)
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