MANILA (2015 FIBA Asia Championship) - For those who feared Andray Blatche might be a one-and-done player for the Philippines, they need not have.

Gilas coach Tab Baldwin has revealed that the country's leading scorer at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Blatche, a naturalized Filipino center from the United States, has every intention of representing the team at the FIBA Asia Championship and helping it qualify for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

Baldwin watched his predecessor Chot Reyes benefit from the dominating presence of former NBA big man Blatche and is excited about the prospect of having the player in his team, too, when Gilas Pilipinas compete at the event in Changsha-Hunan (23 September-3 October).

"We expect him to be with us," Baldwin said to sports website Spin.

He's [Blatche] a great talent. - Baldwin

"I've spoken to Andray and he's told me he's committed and will be 100 percent with the team.

"I want to get him here virtually before we go to the [training] camp, or maybe a little bit before that."

Blatche revealed himself to be no ordinary player at the World Cup in Seville.

The 2.10m pivot averaged 21.2 points per game, which was tied for second with Croatia's Bojan Bogdanovic.

Blatche led the World Cup in rebounding at 13.8 per contest.

He showed himself to be a player that could put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket.

Blatche will also be valuable to Gilas this summer because he will have some inside knowledge on China should the Philippines end up facing the tournament hosts because this season, he played in the CBA for Xinjiang Flying Tigers.

"He dominated in China and his knowledge of the Chinese team and Chinese players will be important as well if we go up against them," said Baldwin.

There is a saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" and that seems to be the line of thinking that Baldwin is taking.

"He'll still have a prominent role," Baldwin said.

"He's got great knowledge of the game, and we want to rely on that, tap into that."

FIBA