More and more pundits think the Gilas Pilipinas team that will play in the 20th Asian Games will come home empty-handed. National team mainstay AJ Edu isn’t one of them. In fact, the big man remains confident that the current Gilas Pilipinas roster will represent the country well.
The roster of the national team sent to defend the gold medal in Japan features three players—RJ Abarrientos, Justin Arana, and Justine Baltazar—who had little to no playing time during the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. Joining them are Robert Bolick, Adrian Nocum, Don Trollano, Brandon Bates, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, Sedrick Barefield, Jerrick Ahanmisi, Zavier Lucero, and Calvin Oftana, who was a late call-up to take the place of the injured Justin Brownlee.
This all-local, all-PBA squad suffered two blowouts to South Korea a week ago, fueling doubts among fans and pundits.
‘They’re Competitive,’ According to AJ Edu
Despite what happened in South Korea, AJ Edu knows firsthand how good the Gilas Asiad squad is, having been part of a Gilas vs. Gilas tune-up that reportedly went the way of the Asian Games team. This and the fabled Gilas “puso” are why the big man is still upbeat about the squad’s chances in Japan.
“[I’m] wishing them well, all the best. We had a tune-up game against them and they’re definitely very competitive,” said Edu during the post-game press conference of the B.League Manila Games. “Filipinos always show puso and always go hard, so definitely, I’m sure they’ll show heart and represent well for us in the Asian Games.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, AJ Edu’s Gilas teammate Dwight Ramos shares the sentiment and has, in fact, urged fellow Filipinos to extend their support to the all-PBA squad defending the Asian Games crown.
If AJ Edu and Dwight Ramos still have faith in Gilas Asiad, maybe fans and pundits should have some, too.
