Gilas Pilipinas‘ Angelo Kouame. Photo from FIBA.

MANILA — Gilas Pilipinas will welcome back Ange Kouame in their pool for the November window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.

The 6-foot-11, former Ateneo de Manila University star was included in the 15-man pool of the Nationals who will face New Zealand and Hong Kong later this month to bolster it as they deal with the injuries of AJ Edu, Jamie Malonzo, and Kai Sotto. 

READ: Edu, Malonzo, Sotto dealing with injuries as Gilas prepares for Asia Cup qualifiers

"I think it's important that, if anything happens to [Justin Brownlee], then we will be having Ange. He knows the system, he knows what's asked of him, and he's a very nice guy," said head coach Tim Cone on having Kouame on board.

However, despite Kouame's presence and prowess, with him even playing a vital factor in Gilas' 19th Asian Games gold medal last year, Cone maintains that it is still more likely for Brownlee to be their reinforcement when they play on November 21 and 25 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay. 

"Ange is one of our naturalized players, but we can only play one naturalized player at a time," emphasized Cone. "He will most likely not be in the lineup because we expect Justin in both games."

The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel mentor is also confident that even with the struggles of Brownlee in the recently concluded PBA Season 49 Governors' Cup Finals wherein they lost to the TNT Tropang GIga in six games, he will be fresh and ready to play for flag and country. 

Gilas Pilipinas’ Justin Brownlee. Photo from FIBA.

"You're gonna see a motivated Justin in this window," he said. "I don't think anybody has anything to fear about Justin. He'll be ready to go."

"I think the key is he needs time to rest his body and his mind. Eight, nine days doesn't seem like it's a lot of time, but for Justin, it's enough. I know him well, I see how he recovers, and I think that he'll be primed."

"I'm motivated to bounce back, and Justin's motivated to bounce back, so watch out. I don't want to motivate [New Zealand] too much, but the bottom line is, Justin will be ready to play," he added.

Cone did not discount having Kouame, though, especially since they are also still waiting for the naturalization process of Bennie Boatwright. 

"It's important that [Kouame] is a part of the preparation as we're waiting for Bennie Boatwright," explained Cone. 

"[Boatwright]'s papers got delayed because of the issues that were going on in the Government. He got on the back burner, so he's not eligible yet, but I know that there are a couple of guys in the government that are helping us out."

"In the meantime, Ange is our backup [naturalized] player, but Bennie is a candidate for the February window," added Cone, while also expressing his hopes of Kouame still being available for Gilas moving forward. 

"I hope he'll be available. If he's willing, we'd like to have Ange," he said.

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