Dalawang miyembro ng Gilas Pilipinas Men’s training pool ang hindi na makalalaro sa darating na FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.

Itinuturing na mahahalagang bahagi ng koponan, hindi na makalalaro ang 2019 Gilas Special Draft third pick na si Matt Nieto at incoming Ateneo Blue Eagle na si Dave Ildefonso sa nakatakda nilang pagsabak sa Clark, Pampanga at Belgrade, Serbia.

"We lost Matt Nieto to a broken hand and he'll be out for most of June and probably for July but we hope to have him back by the FIBA Asia Cup," ayon kay Gilas Pilipinas Program Director Tab Baldwin.

"Dave went out with a suspected stress fracture on his foot but, upon getting second opinion, it turned out to be a deep bone bruise so he's going to take June to rehab that and we expect him to come back to the pool in July."

'Pikon daw?' UAAP fan na nag-dirty finger, agaw-eksena sa San Juan Arena!

Na-injured ni Nieto ang kanyang kamay matapos itong sumabit sa jersey ng kanyang teammate.

"(Losing Matt) created a great leadership void in the team and it's very difficult to fill," pag-amin ni Baldwin.

"Matt is not just a vocal leader, he's not just a tough guy, we really get a lot of our competitiveness as a team from him. He's a fierce competitor who hates to lose and that's contagious in a team environment. We have other players who are competitive but they don't have quite the drive and they don't have the contagious nature that Matt has."

"We miss both of them. We miss their talent and experience. We miss the fact that they give us chemistry with all the other players," dagdag ni Baldwin.

Sa pagkawala ni Nieto, magiging mabigat ang maaatang na tungkulin sa dalawang kabataang guards sa team na sina SJ Belangel at RJ Abarrientos.

Marivic Awitan