THE Gilas Pilipinas defeated Hong Kong 93-54 Sunday night, moving them closer to their objective of qualifying for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup in Saudi Arabia. One thing is lacking, though: Dwight Ramos.
Despite their delight after the national team’s sweep of their two-game home stand, the 11,000 spectators at the SM Mall of Asia Arena were surprised not to see Ramos play.
Fans chanted, “We want Dwight!” as they waited for the 6-foot-5 wingman to take the court. Despite hearing the fans’ request, Gilas head coach Tim Cone had no choice but to resist the temptation.
We want Dwight
With three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the fans encouraged the entire Gilas Pilipinas squad to field Ramos. However, Cone cannot risk everything, particularly the player’s health.
“There was a fan on the front row and I told him: ‘He was injured, we can’t play him’,” Cone revealed during the postgame press conference, right before explaining why Ramos was out in last night’s game.
“I love Dwight. I’m like all the girls, but I just love him for different reasons. I love him for his basketball mind and his talent, girls like him for his looks. I can’t like him for his looks, but I love him for his basketball brain,” he added.
Cone said that Gilas’ newly appointed team manager, Alfrancis Chua, was asking him to give the fans what they wanted and even gave him advice on how to do so. However, he could not risk exacerbating the ailment.
“Even Alfrancis Chua suggested: ‘Why don’t we put him for 30 seconds, and he could just stand on the corner.’ But I don’t know if that would work, so I didn’t do that,” shared Cone.
“I was under orders from the training staff that he should not play, so I gotta do what’s best for him. That’s best for him because he gotta go back and play in Japan to keep his career going. We didn’t want to blow his calf.”
The reason
Cone then explained the reason for Ramos’ benching during that game. It was due to a strained calf muscle during their vital encounter against New Zealand on November 21, Thursday.
“More than anybody, wanted to put him on the floor. I guarantee you, I wasn’t holding him out for any other reason other than the fact that he pulled his calf muscle in the late stages of the New Zealand game,” Cone explained.
“He tried to practice yesterday, he tried to do shootaround, but we weren’t sure. We said that we would try to warm up and see it, but he was still feeling pain.”
“To be honest, I would have pushed him to play if we were playing New Zealand [today], but we felt that we could rest him and be careful with him in this game,” the tactician added.
Ramos, 26, has been one of the Gilas lineup’s standout players. He even earned more fans because both he and his partner Kim Kianna Dy are highly regarded by fans.
Furthermore, he became a consistent contributor for Gilas, scoring 11 points, six rebounds, and four assists in their victory over the Tall Blacks. He will now return to join Levanga Hokkaido in the Japan B.League.
