Gilas BREAKING RUMORS: Ginebra and Converge superstar are the Final 2 Cuts?

 

The countdown to Friday’s crucial 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifier against Jordan is over, and the final 12-man Gilas Pilipinas roster is officially set. According to a source via Spin.ph, RJ Abarrientos and Justin Arana are the final two cuts, confirming that Gilas will march into the Mall of Asia Arena without a naturalized player.

The final roster reads: Kai Sotto, Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, June Mar Fajardo, Scottie Thompson, Juan Gomez de Liano, Kevin Quiambao, Chris Newsome, Carl Tamayo, Cjay Perez, Justine Baltazar, and Troy Rosario.

Let’s unpack this decision. Is this the right move?

The Easy Answer: Trust the GOAT

Before we dive into the granular basketball analysis, let’s establish the baseline: Tim Cone is the greatest coach in Philippine basketball history. When the GOAT makes a roster decision, especially one that involves cutting a player from his own PBA club (Abarrientos), you generally defer to his system architecture. Cone is building a specific scheme to survive a massive, physical Jordanian team without the safety net of Justin Brownlee. The fact that he cut a Barangay Ginebra guard proves this is purely a tactical decision, devoid of any club-level favoritism.

The Expected Cut: Justin Arana

The decision to sideline Justin Arana was widely expected, and frankly, it is the correct call. As we previously discussed, Arana is a bruising, high-motor physical force in the PBA. But international basketball is a brutal game of scale.

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The Gilas frontcourt is already heavily loaded with the towering presence of Kai Sotto (returning for the first time since November 2024), the rebounding mastery of June Mar Fajardo, the defensive versatility of AJ Edu, and the floor-stretching ability of Troy Rosario and Carl Tamayo. Gilas is explicitly going bigger for this matchup against a 5-1 Jordan squad. Arana, while relentless, is simply undersized for the international center position and lacks the necessary perimeter shooting to slot in as a modern stretch-four. It’s a numbers game, and he was the odd man out in a crowded, towering frontcourt.

The Shocker: RJ Abarrientos

This is where the debate gets fascinating. Cutting Abarrientos is a massive shocker.

When you lose Brownlee’s elite half-court shot creation, the immediate instinct is to stack the deck with guards who can generate their own offense. Abarrientos is a dynamic, fearless scorer. He possesses an elite pull-up jumper and the ability to break down set defenses off the dribble. That specific skill—the unteachable swagger to hit a contested three late in the shot clock—is going to be deeply missed on Friday night.

So, why did Cone pull the plug? It likely comes down to two highly specific, interwoven factors: size and defense.

Jordan is big, physical, and disciplined. Cone is opting for a jumbo, switch-heavy lineup. By keeping bigger, defensively versatile guards like Chris Newsome and Dwight Ramos, Cone is prioritizing the ability to survive defensive mismatches on the perimeter. Abarrientos, for all his offensive brilliance, is undersized and can be actively targeted by bigger Jordanian ball-handlers in the pick-and-roll. Cone is essentially wagering that Gilas can scrape together enough offense through execution, but they absolutely cannot afford to bleed points on defensive switches.

Do you think Gilas has enough perimeter shot-creation on this final 12-man roster to survive a tight fourth quarter against Jordan, or will they deeply regret leaving Abarrientos in street clothes?

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