NATIONAL team head coach Chot Reyes, after failing to get the commitment from five players belonging to PBA squads B-Meg and Petron Blaze, has added five new names to the Philippine cage pool pending the blessings of their mother teams.
JV Casio of Powerade, Jared Dillinger of Talk ‘N Text, Jeff Chan of Rain or Shine, Mac Baracael of Alaska and Sol Mercado of Meralco have been included to the pool and will join 11 of the 16 players originally named by Reyes.
James Yap and Marc Pingris of B-Meg, Arwind Santos, Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter of Petron did not submit their signed letters of commitment to the PH team coaching staff and have been stricken off the list.
“Their (replacement) players have been contacted and they have expressed willingness to sign the letter of commitment with the blessing of their respective PBA teams,” Reyes said.
The team’s very first meeting will be held today as the country prepares for the 2013 Fiba-Asia Championships with at least four international tournaments from July to September. /inquirer