Gilas suffers huge blow after Matt Nieto, Dave Ildefonso, suffer injuries

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Gilas Pilipinas will be opening their FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers and Olympic Qualifying Tournament campaigns without guard Matt Nieto and swingman Dave Ildefonso.

Program director coach Tab Baldwin confirmed the news and added that both players are most likely to miss the games in June and July.

Nieto, the team’s starting point guard and their leader, suffered a broken hand during a practice session with the team at the Inspire Sports Academy.

“It’s going to be a leadership by committee. I don’t think there’s anyone who could really step into that role in the same way that Matt did. Certainly we still have his brother Mike here, who’s a vocal leader and who creates a lot of positive culture for us, but on the court it’s not the same when Matt is there with the ball on his hand,” said Baldwin.

Meanwhile, Ildefonso, one of the team’s high-volume scorers, is dealing with a suspected stress fracture on his foot.

Ildefonso proved to be one of the most valuable scorers in the team and was solid throughout the Manama bubble.

“We miss both of them. We miss their talent and experience. We miss the fact that they give us chemistry with all the other players,” added Baldwin.