Gilas Pilipinas began its whirlwind preparations for the third and final window of the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers on Tuesday, with some familiar faces backstopping the Nationals in a short camp at Inspire Sports Academy.

Barangay Ginebra standouts Ralph Cu, and RJ Abarrientos, a former program cadet, joined program fixtures Dwight Ramos, Justin Brownlee, June Mar Fajardo, Calvin Oftana, CJ Perez, Scottie Thompson and Japeth Aguilar in the Laguna facility as the group looks to shake off cobwebs before plunging into a mini tournament in Doha, Qatar, and taking on revenge-seeking hosts Chinese Taipei and New Zealand next week for the final leg of the continental meet.

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Also rejoining the program are AJ Edu, Troy Rosario—an old reliable under the Chot Reyes-mentored Gilas squads of the past—and Jamie Malonzo, who has finally returned to full-on competition after recovering from a calf problem he sustained in April last year.

READ: Gilas Pilipinas gets things going ahead of Doha friendlies, qualifiers

Rosario, who was tapped to help cover the gaping hole left by the injured Kai Sotto, will be sitting out the Doha showcase to rest, team manager and program director Alfrancis Chua told the Inquirer.

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“He’s going to rest throughout [the] Doha [games], but he’ll play in the [Fiba] window,” he said. “Although it’s still really his call if he wants to plays in both. The kid’s been a fighter. Even after draining fluid off his knees, he still chose to play for us [at Ginebra] last weekend.”

Chemistry

“He’s a stud,” Chua went on. “I really like it whenever players truly want to play for a team, die for a team.”

Cu and Abarrientos are serving the program as practice players in Laguna while the squad awaits the arrival of South Korea-based aces Kevin Quiambao and Carl Tamayo, and Chris Newsome, who is helping Meralco shoot for a Final Four berth in the East Asia Super League.

Gilas’ agenda at Inspire and in the four-nation friendly in Qatar is reworking its chemistry as it reintegrates Edu and Malonzo. And of course, keep the Philippines’ record pristine in the Asia Cup qualifiers for a preferable seeding in the main showcase that will be staged in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in August.

The Nationals fly for Qatar on Feb. 13 and then take on the host nation on Feb. 15 [Manila time], and then Lebanon a few hours later. Gilas will wrap things up against Egypt on Feb. 17 [local time] and then return back home to Manila before flying to the Chinese territory for the Fiba rematch against the Taiwanese on Feb. 20. The grudge match with the Tall Blacks is set on Feb. 23 in Auckland.

“For me, as a former coach now handling the players, number one to take note is Kai is out, so the team’s blending will be a bit off. There will be some changes. AJ’s also finally playing. Then we have Troy coming in. We need them to fully understand the system, and that’s what we will work on,” said Chua.

“People are saying that we’re already in [the tournament]. But there’s a need to tend to chemistry and the returning players have a better understanding of the system.” INQ