Ginebra guard RJ Abarrientos is among the talents added to Gilas Pilipinas pool for the Fiba Asia Cup next month in Saudi Arabia.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines–Barangay Ginebra’s RJ Abarrientos and Troy Rosario, Magnolia’s Zavier Lucero and Rhenz Abando were added to the Gilas Pilipinas pool for next month’s Fiba Asia Cup in Saudi Arabia.

Coach Tim Cone confirmed their inclusions for the continental tournament on Monday after Gilas held its first day of practice, albeit under limited circumstances, at Upper Deck Sports Center in Ortigas.

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Abarrientos and Rosario were among the players who attended the session that was mostly used for film viewing followed by some voluntary individual work that kick-started Gilas’ preparation for the Asia Cup which starts Aug. 5.

Lucero is currently in the United States for some downtime following Magnolia’s quarterfinal exit in the PBA Philippine Cup while Abando is currently with Strong Group Athletics for the upcoming William Jones Cup in Taiwan.

Cone, however, cleared that they are only part of the pool for the Asia Cup, at least for the time being.

Gilas mainstays Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar and Jamie Malonzo of Ginebra, CJ Perez of San Miguel Beer and Calvin Oftana of TNT were also present despite their rigorous work for their teams in the Philippine Cup semifinals.

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Overseas league standouts Dwight Ramos and Carl Tamayo opted to make use of the rest of the practice schedule working on their shots, so was Meralco’s Chris Newsome.

San Miguel’s June Mar Fajardo was excused due to his ongoing calf issues in the semis.

Gilas is awaiting the arrival of Justin Brownlee and AJ Edu, who are scheduled to arrive this week and will subsequently take part in the national team’s succeeding training sessions.