GILAS Pilipinas is off to a rousing start in its preparations for the upcoming SEABA Championships, to be hosted by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
After announcing his 12-man roster for the SEABA tilt late Friday night following the nationals’ win over the Luzon All-Stars in Lucena, Quezon, coach Chot Reyes immediately looked forward to the first chance of seeing how well his newly composed team can perform and he wasn’t disappointed.
For the first time Sunday night, the SEABA 12 fought as a unit and passed its initial test.
The Gilas players headed to SEABA are Terrence Romeo, June Mar Fajardo, Calvin Abueva, Japeth Aguilar, Jayson Castro, Troy Rosario along with newbies Matthew Wright, Raymund Almazan, Allein Maliksi, Jio Jalalon and Roger Pogoy.
Gilas Pilipinas came all the way back from 15 points down and showed dominance in the closing moments when it took out the Visayas All-Stars, 125-112, of the Philippine Basketball Association Sunday night in the finale of the three-leg All-Star Week in Cebu City.
Initially, the nationals were still feeling each other and the chemistry wasn’t there yet, but as the game went on, they quickly adapted and turned the tide to their favor to cruise late.
At the forefront were Abueva and Romeo, two of the team’s top guns, as they scored 26 and 25 points, respectively, to help the team gain its first victory as a core.
If the fine start wasn’t enough, the team will get an extra boost with the arrival of one of its resident stars.
Naturalized import Andray Blatche is set to arrive anytime now this week to join the team in its final stretch before plunging into tournament action.
He is the 12th member of the team and is expected to be one of the focal points of attack.
The SEABA Championship will be played from May 12 to May 18 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.