Gilas Pilipinas Basketball

Having known each other for over a decade now and having made an impact in Philippine basketball, towering bigs Greg Slaughter and June Mar Fajardo rave about the opportunity to finally team up on the hardcourt for Gilas Pilipinas.

Slaughter, who personally will be in his first Gilas stint since the 2009-2010 campaign, says he cannot wait to don the national colors once more when the squad faces Kazakhstan on November 30 in the fifth window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

“I’m excited. It’s such a big opportunity to see how far the national team has come. There’s a lot of new players, some old ones, I’m just excited to be representing the country again,” Slaughter said.

Having been to many memorable battles with Fajardo dating back to the late 2000s when they were playing for the University of the Visayas and the University of Cebu respectively, Slaughter cherishes the chance to be on the same side as his fellow center.

View Gilas Pilipinas Roster vs Kazakhstan – FIBA Qualifiers 5th Window

“It’s cool. June Mar is one of the first people I’ve ever met here in the Philippines back in 2007, even so. Just couldn’t imagine that years later we will be playing together side by side on the national team, it’s like a dream come true,” Slaughter shared.

“I am really excited and I just want to make our country proud.”

Fajardo, the reigning four-time PBA MVP, shares the same excitement.

“Excited kami na maglaro bukas. Kailangan namin magtrabaho. Malaki yung responsibilidad namin. Gagawin namin lahat para makapagcontribute sa team,” he said.

Slaughter will not only be joining forces with Fajardo, but he is also reuniting with his Gilas I batchmates Japeth Aguilar and Marcio Lassiter, another reason he is grateful to be part of the final roster yet again.

“It’s cool, those are some of the first things we did together, 22 years old, 21 years old,” he shared. “Now, being 30 years old, a little more wiser, a little more experienced, being some of the kuyas on the team now. It’s nice to see that kind of come full circle.”

By Levi Verora, Jr.