June Mar Fajardo, the recipient of the first Ramon Fernandez Finals Most Valuable Player trophy at the close of the PBA Philippine Cup recently, is expected to lead the Gilas Pilipinas Men when national coach Tim Cone summons them to practice less than two weeks from now in preparation for home games against New Zealand and Australia in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.
With its goal of making it to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 in Doha, Qatar, the Philippines, ranked 36th in the world, takes on the No. 25 Tall Blacks in Window 2 on Feb. 26 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, and the No. 6 Boomers on March 1 at the same venue.
Cone had initially planned for an earlier return to training for the national team.
“Looking at Feb 11, but Japan and Korea guys can’t arrive until after the 16th,” Cone had said on Viber.
But with Kai Sotto, Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao, and Carl Tamayo currently signed to their respective international leagues and unable to fly back yet, Cone had rescheduled the Gilas Men’s call time.
“We will start closer to the 15th since the players from Japan and Korea won’t be available until later that week. We’ll expect everyone by then, even those coming from the Finals,” Cone said.
The Gilas Men are expected to kick off training at Inspire Academy in Laguna.
Fajardo, along with San Miguel Beer teammate CJ Perez, spearheaded the Beermen’s 4-2 victory over the TNT Tropang 5G and Gilas Men forward Calvin Oftana in the championship series but flew back to his hometown in Cebu right after the Finals.
The Gilas Men, keyed by Justin Brownlee, had picked up two earlier victories over Guam in home-and-away games and, behind the home crowd, are looking to repeat over the Tall Blacks in the same venue after their breakthrough win during the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers last November 2024.
