Gilas practice to resume with Kobe Paras, Kiefer Ravena – Chot

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes is calling all hands on deck when the national basketball team resumes practice on June 20, issuing a tweet Friday, June 9 of an invite list that includes Gilas cadets and some new names.

Included in the tweet are cadets Jio Jalalon, Mike Tolomia, Almond Vosotros, Ed Daquioag, RR Pogoy, Matthew Wright, Von Pessumal, Kevin Ferrer, Carl Bryan Cruz, Mac Belo and Alfonso Gotladera. The 4 surprise entries to the pool were Kobe Paras, Kiefer Ravena, Raymar Jose and Christian Standhardinger.

Jose, an FEU Tamaraw, stands 6-foot-5 and has been playing for the PBA D-League’s Cignal HD, while Paras recently announced his transfer from Creighton University to Cal State Northridge in the US NCAA. Ravena has been preparing for the upcoming FIBA 3×3 World Cup 2017 later this month, where he’ll team with Paras.

The least familiar of the names included is 27-year-old Christian Standhardinger, a 6-foot-7 Filipino-German from Munich who played college ball at University of Nebraska and University of Hawaii, and has been playing in the German league ProA, where he was the 2016 MVP, according to his Wikipedia page.

Gilas resumes practice June 20 & we’re calling in Jio,Mike,Almond,Ed,RR,Matt,Von,Kev,Carl,Mac,Fonz,Kief,Reymar, Kobe & Christian to action

— Chot Reyes (@coachot) June 9, 2017

PBA veterans were not announced yet, as Gilas cadets can be released by their teams 60 days before a tournament and regular players will report 15 days before.

Upcoming tournaments for the Philippines include the SEA Games in Malaysia and FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon, both set for August, while the William Jones Cup in Taiwan is set for July 14-23. Reyes tweeted on June 6 that “This year’s Jones Cup field is tough” but a decision about whether the Philippines will compete in the tune-up meet has not been announced.

A text message to Reyes inquiring about which tournaments this pool will see action in was not answered by the time of this story’s publication. – Rappler.com