By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Gilas Pilipinas men’s national basketball team should be worried at this point.
With the 2023 Southeast Asian Games men’s basketball tournament set to kick off in Cambodia in a couple of days, Gilas is yet to release its final 12-man roster that will seek to reclaim the gold medal they lost last edition.
On the other hand, their nemesis, the Indonesian national hoops team that stole the gold medal away from them last May 2022, is going all out in their campaign after releasing a star-studded lineup that will compete in Cambodia.
Aside from their firepower, Indonesia will also be led by three naturalized imports headed by former PBA import Lester Prosper.
Joining Prosper in the final roster are Anthony Beane, a quick guard playing for the Indonesian Patriots and Dame Diagne, another bruiser underneath that is tasked to man the Indonesian interior.
Holdovers from the past Indonesian national teams are Brandon Jawato, Andakara Prastawa, Arighi Noor, Juan Laurent, Julian Chalis, Kaleb Ramot, Vincent Kosasih, Widyanta Teja, and Yudha Saputra.
However, Gilas will have some sort of relief after Marques Bolden, a former NBA player that dominated them last SEA Games as Indonesia’s import, will not be playing.
Gilas is currently in a shaky situation after several stars will not be able to play on the big stage as June Mar Fajardo, RR Pogoy, and Japeth Aguilar are all out due to their respective injuries.
Poy Erram, a Gilas veteran, meanwhile revealed that he never received any Gilas call-up despite the team lacking in size.
Members that already showed up in the Gilas practices are veterans Chris Newsome, Chris Ross, Marcio Lassiter, Chris Ross, and Christian Standhardinger.
Meanwhile, the young bloods that will most likely suit up for the national team are Mason Amos, Arvin Tolentino, Aaron Black, and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser.
