Gilas arrives in Korea for friendlies before Asian Games

Gilas Pilipinas players Justin Arana, RJ Abarrientos, Adrian Nocum, Don Trollano, Robert Bolick and Justin Baltazar. –RJ ABARRIENTOS PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Gilas Pilipinas squad, which will compete in the 2026 Asian Games, continued its preparations for the continental multi-sport event which begins next week.

The new ensemble of the Philippines’ national team arrived in South Korea to play a couple of friendlies in preparation for the Asian Games in Japan.

READ: Gilas Pilipinas ramps up Asian Games preps

“Dream big. Forever blessed and grateful,” wrote Adrian Nocum in a Facebook post, sharing a memory of him and his wife talking about a future Gilas stint.

RJ Abarrientos, who was in the Gilas pool for the second round of the 2027 Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers but didn’t make the cut, also shared a photo of him and his fellow Gilas teammates.

“Mga chambahan lang kumain, lalaban para sa bayan (Guys who barely ate are now representing the country),” he wrote in jest.

Along with him in the photo were San Miguel Beer forward Don Trollano, Nocum, NLEX star Robert Bolick and the duo of Justin Arana and Justine Baltazar, who were also in the Gilas pool for the qualifiers.

Bolick was also ecstatic, sharing a picture with Nocum with the caption: “Banat,” a word often used by the Rain or Shine young gun.

Gilas is in Group C of the 5-on-5 men’s basketball games of the Asian Games alongside China, Bahrain and Kazakhstan.