GILAS PILIPINAS : FINAL 12 FOR 2015 FIBA ASIA CHAMPIONSHIP NAMED

The final 12 members of Gilas Pilipinas that will try to get the ticket to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games has been named by Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas. The announcement came on the night of the deadline of the final team rosters for the event which will happen in 2 weeks time.

The Gilas pool has just came back from a silver medal finish from the 2015 Jones Cup in Taiwan and is now preparing for the inaugural 2015 MVP Cup which is their final preparation before the Asian Championship in China.

The final 12 players are Gilas 2.0 holdovers Ranidel de Ocampo, Marc Pingris, Gabe Norwood and Jayson Castro; veterans Asi Taulava and Dondon Hontiveros, Sonny Thoss, Matt Ganuelas, Gilas rookies JC Intal, Calvin Abueva and Terence Romeo and naturalized player Andray Blatche.

NBA sophomore Jordan Clarkson was initially in the list but has not yet been given the green light by FIBA to play as a natural born citizen is out of the final line up. There is also schedule conflicts due to the preparations for the upcoming NBA season. But kudos to Clarkson for expressing his interest to play for the flag and country.

Big thank you as well to the other players in the pool for not turning your backs to the flag's call - Gary David, Aldrech Ramos, Jimmy Alapag (who I think will be an assistant coach) and PBA rookies Troy Rosario and Moala Tautua.

2014 fiba world cup: gilas pilipinas versus argentina

gilas pilipinas suffered another heartbreaking loss, now in the hands of the world's number 3 team - argentina, 81-85.

the philippines actually started strong, leading in the first quarter up to the start of the 2nd quarter. argentina then held its ground and lead as much as 15 points early in the fourth quarter. the filipinos did not give up and eventually caught up and was down by only 2 points during the last minute of the game. unfortunately, several missed shots and errors later, argentina escaped with the win.

ranidel de ocampo posted 18 points, leading the team but it was the heroics of jimmy alapag that kept us in the game. his leadership in the court is unmatched and he delivered 5 crucial 3 point shots in the second half. gabe norwood also showed his great defense and got two magnificent dunk shots, one even on the face of argentina's nba veteran, luis scola.

here are the highlights of the game:

gilas needs to win both of its final two assignments in the group round. it will face puerto rico on september 3 7:30pm and senegal on september 4 8pm (manila time).

we still have hope to advance to thr round of 16. let us all pray for gilas pilipinas. laban pilipinas!

video is from fiba's youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJLRmewbkeY&list=UUtInrnU3QbWqFGsdKT1GZtg

official song of the 2014 fiba world cup - sube la copa

here is the official video of the official song of the 2014 fiba world cup; sube la copa by huecco:

the video features gabe norwood, japhet aguilar and ranidel de ocampo of gilas pilipinas.

2 days to go before the return of the philippines to the world basketball scene! laban pilipinas!

video is from huecco's youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP6g7GJdPhk