Malonzo, Williams beg off from Gilas Pilipinas pool due to personal commitments

Gilas Pilipinas will be missing the services of Jamie Malonzo and Mikey Williams in the upcoming Southeast Asian Games which set in Phnom Penh, Cambodia this coming May 5 to 17.

The pair of prolific Fil-Ams begged off from national team dues to previous personal commitments.

Gilas head coach Chot Reyes confirmed the unfortunate development on Wednesday, April 26.

“Jamie has begged off. He has to attend to some personal matters (wedding of his nephew) back in the United States,” said Reyes.

“We also wanted to have Mikey but I think he left already (for the United States) because his father is getting married. He had to be there,” he added.

Williams will miss out on what would have been his first Gilas stint while Malonzo will be taking a break after seeing action in the last three windows of the FIBA Asian Qualifiers.

The two were coming off sensational performances in the championship round of the PBA Season 47 Governors’ Cup with Williams even winning the Finals MVP award after leading TNT to its first Governors’ Cup title since joining the league in 1996.

The 31-year-old former PBA Rookie of the Year awardee averaged 18.8 points, 3.9 assists, and 3.8 rebounds in the season-ending conference.

Malonzo, for his part, normed 17.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists as he finished in 5th place in the race for the Best Player of the Conference honors.

Williams’ TNT teammate Roger Pogoy also begged off due to a fractured right pinkie which he sustained during Game 3 of the Finals.