MANILA – San Miguel Beermen three-pointer Marcio Lassiter will not be suiting up for the Gilas Pilipinas squad in the 2019 FIBA World Cup slated from Aug. 31 to Sept. 15 in Beijing, China.
The Beermen confirmed the unavailability of Lassiter. He is expected to be out of basketball action for six weeks due to a grade 2 medial collateral ligament (MCL) strain on his left knee.
Lassiter sustained the injury in the second quarter of the Beermen’s 2019 Honda PBA Commissioner’s Cup do-or-die quarterfinals game against NorthPort Batang Pier on Wednesday after colliding knee to knee with Batang Pier’s Garvo Lanete.
The absence of Lassiter will leave Gilas head coach Joseller Guiao with limited three-point shooting wing players from his 19-man pool in Matthew Wright, Roger Pogoy and Robert Bolick Jr.
“We’re still not giving up on Marcio. I was informed that it could take around six weeks for him to get back. We’re hoping there’s a minor miracle that he can get back in three to four weeks to give him enough time to be with us,” said Guiao.
“We are already preparing a contingency plan just in case,” he added. “It’s a big loss but we’ll find ways to make up for it. Matthew Wright is there, the rest of the team is there. We’ll just find ways to step up.”
The national men’s basketball team were underdogs in their bracket as they have to go up against powerhouse teams in No. 4 Serbia, No. 13 Italy and No. 39 Angola.
The Philippines needed at least two victories to advance to the next round, which have an extra incentive as the top-ranked Asian team will automatically earned a ticket in 2020 Tokyo Olympics./PN
