#LabanPilipinas: SBP announces 24-man roster for the first #FIBAAsiaCup window

After a brief holiday, Gilas Pilipinas is gearing up for the upcoming FIBA Asia Cup 2021 qualifiers, as the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas releases the preliminary squad on its first window.

A complete mix of the best players from the college ranks up to seasoned pros headline the 24-man provisional squad for February's first pair of games against Southeast Asian rivals, at home to Thailand on the 20th followed by a road trip to Indonesia three days later.

Five of the men who played in that golden sweep in the 30th Southeast Asian Games were retained to the squad with a coach later to be named, as Kiefer Ravena, Matthew Wright, Troy Rosario, Japeth Aguilar and Christian Stanhardinger will serve as the leaders alongside Marc Pingris who made his return more than four years since last playing for Gilas in the 2015 edition of the Asian championships in China.

Also included in the squad is World Cup neophyte and 3x3 champion CJ Perez, and ABL champion (and now TNT Katropa) Ray Parks

Among those in the pool were the quintet of Isaac Go, the Nieto twins Mike and Matt, Allyn Bulanadi and Rey Suerte who were picked in the special edition of the most recent PBA draft.

Joining the mentioned five were three-time UAAP Finals MVP Thirdy Ravena of Ateneo, UP's Kobe Paras and Jaydee Tungcab and La Salle's Justine Baltazar who are arguably the best from the college ranks.

Photo by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas