MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas will field a 12-man roster for its Asian Games gold-medal defense after coach Tim Cone confirmed Calvin Oftana as the replacement for Justin Brownlee on Wednesday.
Oftana is expected to arrive in Japan in time to join Gilas’ practice session ahead of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
“We hope he arrives in time to make our practice schedule today,” Cone said.
The TNT forward will make his first Gilas appearance since the second window of the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers in February.
Oftana missed the next two qualifying windows after suffering hamstring and toe injuries.
He now replaces Brownlee, who will miss the Asian Games after sitting out the fourth window of the Fiba World Cup qualifiers.
Cone initially prepared Gilas for the possibility of competing with only 11 players if Brownlee could not recover in time. The coaching staff later added Oftana to complete the roster.
The decision comes after Gilas suffered two losses to South Korea in an exhibition series in Suwon over the weekend.
Oftana will join the team two days before Gilas opens its Asian Games campaign against Bahrain.