Gilas Pilipinas U16 squad suffered a major blow after its prized recruit in Paul Diao suffered a groin injury a few days before the Southeast Asia Basketball Association U16 tournament in Jakarta.
Gilas head coach Josh Reyes confirmed the development to Daily Tribune, saying that the 6-foot-5 United States-based forward suffered a strained hip adductors injury and is doubtful to see action in the regional event that serves as a qualifier for the FIBA Asia U16 Championship.
“He is my main man up front. Tough luck. I hope it’s nothing serious,” Reyes said.
Gilas team manager Dean Castano said they are still waiting for the result of Diao’s magnetic resonance imaging test before deciding whether to field him or not.
“There’s no result yet for Paul. It will be most likely on Monday,” Castano said in a Viber message.
Diao is expected to man the front alongside Daniel Sta. Maria, the 6-foot-5 son of former Philippine Basketball Association player Adonis Sta. Maria.
With Diao’s status still in doubt, Gilas boys have to bank on Sta. Maria as well as Bonn Daja and Edryn Morales, who is likely to serve as point-forward similar to the role being played by Dwight Ramos in the seniors team.
Other notable players in the team are Kieffer Alas, CJ Amos, Kurt Velasquez and Joaquin Ludavice of University of Santo Tomas, and Bryan Hachuela and Gian Gomez.
Alas is the son of multi-titled coach Louie Alas while Amos, a 6-foot-2 guard, is the younger brother of Gilas Pilipinas pool member Mason Amos.
Gilas Pilipinas resumes practice on Sunday morning at the Philsports Arena.
But the injury of Diao is just one of the things the squad has to overcome.
Reyes disclosed that they are also having difficulty getting a flight to Jakarta, forcing him to split the team into batches.
“There’s no flight available. I need to be there on the 15th since we would want to train there before our game on the 17th,” Reyes said.
“So worse comes to worst, we might go there playing without practicing on the eve of our game.”
