Paras, Ravena and Parks make it to preliminary Philippines roster

MANILA (FIBA Asia Cup 2017) - Young studs and second-generation ballers Kobe Paras, Kiefer Ravena and Ray Parks lead the preliminary Philippines roster in their buildup for the year's remaining tournaments.

National team head coach Chot Reyes recently unveiled his preliminary roster for Gilas Pilipinas, which will compete at the William Jones Cup 2017 in Chinese Taipei, the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 in Lebanon and the Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia. Reyes prioritized youth and athleticism for his preliminary roster, which will still be joined by more than a handful of PBA stars by the time the current Commisioner's Cup ends.

None of the players on this roster were on the team that bagged the top prize at the SEABA Championship 2017, which saw the Philippines go undefeated in emphatic fashion. Paras and Ravena, though, are fresh from competing at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup 2017 in Nantes, France, and they have already started practicing with the team a few days ago.

The core of this team is made up of the old Cadets squad that saw action last year at the FIBA Asia Challenge. Von Pessumal, Kevin Ferrer, Carl Cruz and Mike Tolomia were all on that squad that finished 9th place overall.

Joining them in this tour of duty are former pro Almond Vosotros and ABL player Raymar Jose, while FIBA OQT veteran Troy Rosario will also join the squad once he has been released by club team TNT KaTropa. Two new notable names to watch out for are Baser Amer of the Meralco Bolts, who has been having a banner season in the PBA, and Filipino-German Christian Standhardinger, who plays in the Basketball Bundesliga for SC Rast Vechta.

Amer was a collegiate superstar in the Philippines who rivaled both Parks and Ravena in stature, and he is expected to be one of the national team's most productive members. Standhardinger, the former German U18 team player who has been released by the Deutscher Basketball Bund, has long been in the radar of Reyes, and the 2.02m big man just arrived a couple of nights ago and has already joined Gilas in their training. He will be the team's designated naturalized player for now.

"For now, the way we're looking at it, this is the kind of lineup that we're hoping to field," Reyes shared with local media. "It's a combination of the Cadets, the new guys plus two PBA players in Amer and Rosario."

Reyes pointed out, however, that the players on this team will focus on the SEA Games. He hinted that the team for the FIBA Asia Cup will be quite different, knowing full well that the two tournaments will overlap with each other. Still, he remains open to the possibility of having one or two players play in both tournaments if the situation calls for it.

"We're still talking to players, figuring things out," Reyes said. "We didn't only consider the SEA Games lineup, but also the FIBA Asia because they're back-to-back."

The Philippines remain the heavy favorites to bring home the SEA Games gold medal, winning the title 17 times already.

FIBA