MANILA, Philippines – It took four long years for Juan Gomez de Liaño to regain his Gilas Pilipinas spot, and by the looks of it, his return is for the long run.

Gomez de Liaño delivered 10 points, 2 assists, and 1 rebound in his comeback game for the national team, albeit in a narrow 69-66 home loss to New Zealand in the second window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers on Thursday, February 26.

Behind Dwight Ramos and CJ Perez, who had 16 and 15 points, respectively, Gomez de Liaño was the Nationals’ third-highest scorer as he helped carry the offensive load, with naturalized star Justin Brownlee limited to only 4 points in one of his lowest scoring outputs in FIBA play. 

“He was one of our best, if not the best player in our whole practice camp that we had in preparation. So we’re not surprised by what he came out and did,” said Philippines head coach Tim Cone of Gomez de Liaño. 

“You know, he’s going to be a mainstay on this team.” 

Facing New Zealand in his return to national team action was a full-circle moment for Gomez de Liaño.

His last Gilas Pilipinas appearance in 2022 was also against the Tall Blacks — a game that saw him go scoreless as he played just a little over three minutes.

With four years of experience under his belt following professional stints in Japan, Lithuania, and South Korea, Gomez de Liaño showed he is more polished, more mature, and a whole lot fiercer. 

Coming off the bench in the opening quarter, the Converge guard immediately made his presence felt by converting a fearless drive over three defenders and hitting one of his two three-pointers for the game. 

His addition is a timely boost for a team that ranks third to last among the 16 teams in the Asian Qualifiers in three-point percentage with a lowly 23.6% clip. 

“Remember this was his first game in front of a big crowd, a lot of pressure. He’s going to get comfortable and he’s going to do a lot more than he did today. He did a lot today, but he’s going to do a lot more going forward,” said Cone. 

“He’s a special talent.” – Rappler.com