By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The challenges continue to pile up for Gilas Pilipinas as the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers November window nears after announcing that two of their promising young stars will not be seeing action.
Shooting guard Allyn Bulanadi and Ivorian center Angelo Kouame from the Ateneo Blue Eagles did not make it to the final Gilas roster as they fly to Bahrain for the FIBA qualifiers.
Bulanadi suffered a dislocated shoulder during their Gilas practice and will leave a deep void to fill after being tasked with huge responsibilities by head coach Jong Uichico.
Bulanadi was considered as one of Gilas’ leaders heading to Bahrain with tons of experience and is a special player drafted by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas to their prestigious program.
Meanwhile, the one expected to man the paint and be the main anchor of the Gilas’ pool of big men did not also make it due to undisclosed reasons.
Previously, Kouame’s Filipino naturalization is already set to be signed but recent reports said that the process did not beat the deadline as they are set to fly to Bahrain.
Meanwhile, Coach Uichico and SBP program director Tab Baldwin said they will be up to the challenge presented by the absence of their two stars going up against the best of Asia.
