MANILA, February 9 ------ Kevin Quiambao and AJ Edu are expected to return to Gilas Pilipinas ahead of the February window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. Quiambao, who suffered a right ankle injury in his Korean Basketball League (KBL) debut, and Edu, who missed the November window due to the leg injury he suffered in the Japan B.League, are available for National Team duties which will resume this February. “Kevin’s fine, he spoke to us, he’ll be with us in Doha, and we’ll bring AJ into the team,” revealed Gilas head coach Tim Cone.
Quiambao returned to the active lineup of the Goyang Sono Skygunners on Tuesday, while Edu has been delivering for Nagasaki Velca after his injury since December. The Filipino hoopers will be competing in the Doha International Cup wherein they will be facing Qatar, Lebanon, and Egypt, and Cone said that this trip is crucial not only in their upcoming games against Chinese Taipei and New Zealand, but also for the actual Asia Cup later this year. “It’s gonna be a really quick trip, just exhibition games, but looking forward in our schedule, we’re not gonna have enough prep time for the Asian Championships in August,” said Coach Tim. “We’re gonna use this trip and this window as a chance to prepare,” he added.
This will be the first time that Edu will finally play under Cone as the 6-foot-10 young star previously missed out on the earlier windows of the qualifiers due to injuries, which is why this set of runs is a crucial one for him. “We’ll bring AJ to the team, and Troy [Rosario] as it turned out, but we felt that AJ needed more games before we play FIBA Asia in August,” explained Cone. “From my understanding, we’ll have five days to prepare for FIBA Asia, so it doesn’t give us much time to go out and do anything. This is our chance right now, and we’re taking advantage of this.” ”It’s gonna be very tough, it’s gonna be very hard with the players and the travel, but we want it hard. If we were not qualified, we’d probably not do the Doha trip and just focus on Taiwan and New Zealand, but we are qualified, so we’re gonna use this time to prepare for FIBA Asia,” he added.
KQ, Edu, and the rest of Gilas are expected enter the Inspire Camp in Laguna anew during the PBA’s mid-conference break in February, and they will be leaving on the 13th for the pocket tournament in Qatar. After these, they will conclude their Asia Cup Qualifiers assignments on February 20 against Chinese Taipei, and on February 23 in a much-anticipated rematch against the Kiwis.
Source: news.abs-cbn.com
Comments