MANILA (FIBA Asia Cup 2017) - Philippines head coach Chot Reyes just announced the final 12-man composition of Gilas Pilipinas for the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 in Beirut, Lebanon.

There are a lot of familiar names on this roster, especially veteran Jayson Castro - named to the All-Star Five both in 2013 and 2015 - three-time Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo and fan favorite Terrence Romeo. All three played for the Philippines at the FIBA OQT 2016 and the SEABA Championship 2017.

Other FIBA Asia veterans are Calvin Abueva, Japeth Aguilar and the returning Gabe Norwood.

A few players from the SEABA Championship title-clinching squad will also play at the FIBA Asia Cup for the first time: Raymond Almazan, Jio Jalalon, RR Pogoy, Matthew Wright and Carl Bryan Cruz.

Naturalized player Andray Blatche, who has been one of the best in FIBA Asia the past couple of years, will not join the team in Beirut, and his spot will be filled by Filipino-German big man Christian Standhardinger, who will also play for the Philippines at the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia right after the Asia Cup.

The Philippines are in the same group as China, Qatar and Iraq, and they are considered the "Group of Death" at the Asia Cup, which will be played from 8-20 August. Gilas Pilipinas will open their campaign against the team that defeated in the FIBA Asia Championship 2015 Final, China.

FIBA