FILE–Gilas Pilipinas’ Jamie Malonzo. –FIBA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Jamie Malonzo sat out Gilas Pilipinas’ game against Chinese Taipei after being under the weather, based on coach Tim Cone.
After Gilas’ 106-53 win within the 2023 Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers at Philsports Arena on Sunday, Cone said Malonzo missed the sport resulting from a medical issue.
“He’s sick. It’s a medical thing so I don’t need to talk an excessive amount of about it,” said the Ginebra coach.
“Actually, he and Justin (Brownlee) were each sick coming home from Hong Kong and we were really afraid that neither of them would play but Justin bounced back. Jamie, we needed to contemplate and convey him to the hospital. He’s down and out.”
National coach @manilacone on why Jamie Malonzo didn’t see motion within the 106-53 rout of Chinese Taipei on Sunday night | @phildailyinq @INQUIRERSports pic.twitter.com/eS4id9aOi6
— Denison Rey Dalupang (@sonrdINQ) February 25, 2024
Despite the absence of Malonzo within the rotation, Gilas’ other wing players stepped up to present the Filipinos a 2-0 lead within the qualifiers.
Calvin Oftana took over the forward position with 13 points and five rebounds. Kevin Quiambao also got here off the bench to play the role Malonzo left behind and finished with 10 points and 6 rebounds.
Cone, though, said Gilas still missed Malonzo’s presence within the last game of the primary window. The Gin King scored 11 in Gilas’ previous game against Hong Kong, a number of days prior.
“We sent our doctors to him but I feel some guys just got severely dehydrated on the trip… We did miss him tonight, he was speculated to be a part of the rotation.”
