Gilas Pilipinas Boys’ Kieffer Alas is called within the All-Star 5 on the Fiba U16 Asian Championship in Doha, Qatar.–FIBA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Gilas Pilipinas boys will compete within the 2024 Fiba Below-17 World Cup in Istanbul with out its star guard Kieffer Alas.
In Fiba’s ultimate roster launched forward of Saturday’s opening sport day, Alas was not a part of the lineup attributable to a knee damage he suffered within the Gilas boys’ final tune-up sport in opposition to Canada.
“On preliminary examination by our workforce physician, he had a functionally secure knee and the official results of his MRI decided Kieffer has a sprained ACL,” mentioned head coach Josh Reyes. “His knee is swollen and he’ll be out for 3 weeks. We will likely be monitoring his state of affairs carefully.”
SCHEDULE: Gilas Pilipinas at Fiba U17 World Cup
Alas, a member of the UAAP Season 86 boys’ basketball Legendary 5, will sit out the competitors however fellow La Salle Zobel standout Irus Chua will nonetheless add a hue of Inexperienced and White to the roster.
“It’s a tricky break for us however the remainder of the workforce is motivated to play collectively. We’re praying for good outcomes on Kieffer’s MRI however we’ve to maneuver ahead and shortly determine tips on how to play with out him,” Reyes mentioned.
READ: Kieffer Alas makes Fiba Asia U16 All-Star 5
“Kieffer was doing an excellent job in playmaking, rebounding, and taking part in protection and that is his worth to the squad, greater than his scoring.”
Dominic Arejola took Alas’ spot for the Gilas boys, who will play Lithuania on Saturday of their first task within the World Cup.
College of Santo Tomas skills Joaquin Ludovice and Kurt Velasquez have been additionally included within the lineup.
Ludovice made noise not too way back by cracking the NBTC 24 checklist, an annual ladder of the very best high-school gamers within the nation. He was listed because the Twentieth-best highschool participant.
They are going to be joined by 5-foot-11 athletic guard Elijah Williams, Blue Eagle star Mason Amos’ youthful brother CJ and lanky 6-foot-4 wing Edryn Morales.
Additionally becoming a member of the pack are Davao Bulldog Bonn Daja, the tallest man within the lineup at 6-foot-6 in Paul Diao, UP Built-in Faculty Expertise Jaime Gomez de Liaño and California-bred Samuel Alegre.
Rounding out the lineup is Noah Banal, who, alongside Williams, Amos, Morales, Daja, Diao, de Liaño, and Alegre completed fourth within the U16 Asian Championship.
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Gilas is grouped in Pool A with Spain, Puerto Rico and Lithuania.