Philippine Basketball Association stars will have extra bodies when they train with Gilas Pilipinas for the fifth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas yesterday confirmed the participation of Kiefer and Thirdy Ravena as well as Dwight Ramos in their weekly training session starting Monday at the Meralco Gym in Pasig City.
The federation also invited Angelo Kouame, Carl Tamayo, Kevin Quiambao and Francis Lopez as well as longtime pool members Jordan Heading and Will Navarro together with Filipino-American swingman Roosevelt Adams.
But the bulk of the pool will be coming from the PBA following the agreement forged between the SBP and San Miguel Corporation.
Already invited were June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez of San Miguel Beer, Japeth Aguilar, Scottie Thompson and Arvin Tolentino of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, and Roger Pogoy and Poy Erram of TNT Tropang Giga.
Fajardo and Perez are fresh from winning the Philippine Cup, helping the Beermen to their 28th championship, the most in the PBA.
Both World Cup veterans, Fajardo and Perez will give the national team inside and outside threats.
Thompson and Aguilar, meanwhile, had represented the country several times, including their latest stint in the previous window in which they played alongside National Basketball Association star Jordan Clarkson.
Their fellow King, Tolentino, on the other hand, is a first-time participant although he had already represented the national team in the youth program while Pogoy and Erram were mainstays of the national team for nearly five years.
The federation also invited Calvin Oftana of NLEX and Jamie Malonzo of NorthPort, not just to join the scrimmages, but also to develop bonding and camaraderie with other Gilas members.
The Philippines will battle Jordan on 10 November and Saudi Arabia on 13 November.