Gilas Pilipinas already entered the third window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers shorthanded.
A couple of weeks before heading to Auckland, big man Angelo Kouame suffered a meniscal sprain and partial ACL tear. The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas could no longer add a player due to visa processing.
And late in the contest against the Tall Blacks on Thursday, another soldier went down.
Carl Tamayo, who was leading the brave stand of Gilas with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field with five rebounds, sprained his right ankle after going through a tough Tom Vodanovich screen.
He went out of the game with 7:44 left and did not return.
Gilas head coach Nenad Vucinic is not hopeful that Tamayo can play on Sunday against India at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, saying that even if he plays, the young Cebuano will not be as effective.
“It’s very early to assess the injury, it’s a sprained ankle. It’s very hard to see if he can recover in three days. If he does recover, he is probably not going to be as effective as he would be.”
In the current team, only Tamayo, Kevin Quiambao, and William Navarro are legitimate forwards. With Kouame out, they are also moonlighting as big men.
But Vucinic is not waving the white flag this early, hoping that the other players use Tamayo’s injury to step up and shine.
“Other players should step up.
“We came in with three guys that can play the forward positions and now we are down to two so it’s difficult. Again, we don’t want excuses. We want to try to have a good game and a chance to win on Sunday,” he said.
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