MANILA — Gilas Pilipinas will have to fight for its fading 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup hopes with an all-Filipino lineup after Justin Brownlee, Bennie Boatwright and Angelo Kouame were all ruled out of the crucial fourth window of the Asian Qualifiers.
The Filipinos, carrying a 2-4 record after four consecutive defeats, face Jordan on Aug. 28 and Iran on Aug. 30 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, with little room left for another setback in their qualification campaign.
Head coach Tim Cone confirmed Brownlee will miss both games after the veteran naturalized Filipino informed the national team that he was not healthy enough to contribute.
“Well, he at this point doesn’t feel like he’s really healthy enough to contribute. And whether that’s really injury or health, he was having some issues,” Cone said in a press conference on Monday.
“Obviously, as we know from the last window, he wasn’t able to play against Australia,” he added.
Brownlee has been dealing with ankle and hamstring problems and has been undergoing rehabilitation in San Diego, California.
Cone said Gilas had hoped Brownlee would recover in time for the home window, but the veteran forward remained unfit to play.
“We were hoping that those issues would be resolved by the time we played here. But as it turned out, he’s telling us that he’s just not healthy enough,” Cone said.
Gilas’ hopes of tapping Boatwright as Brownlee’s replacement also fell through because his naturalization process remains incomplete.
Boatwright still does not have a Philippine passport as his naturalization has yet to receive final approval from President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., according to Cone.
“In the meantime, we couldn’t get Benny Boatwright, his papers not yet done,” Cone said. “He still doesn’t have his passport. He hasn’t had his final approval yet. So, we haven’t been able to get that done.”
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas had hoped Boatwright could complete the process in time to reinforce Gilas, but the delay also leaves him unavailable for the Asian Games.
Kouame, another naturalized option, is likewise unavailable because of his club commitments in France.
“And then, our other naturalized player that we would have brought, Ange Kouame, he is in France under contract. So, we’re going to be attending this window all Filipino,” Cone said.
The absences leave Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao, Carl Tamayo, AJ Edu and the rest of the Gilas pool with the task of keeping the Philippines’ World Cup qualification bid alive.
With Gilas already reeling from four straight losses, Cone acknowledged the urgency surrounding the two home games.
“The margin of error has really dissipated for us,” Cone said.
The Philippines will first try to stop its skid against Jordan on Aug. 28 before taking on Iran two days later./PN
