Gilas Pilipinas 'Un-Invited' To Jones Cup 2013

Gilas Pilipinas, the Philippine national basketball team, will not be able to defend its Jones Cup title as it has been "un-invited" to this year's tournament, coach Chot Reyes said.

Gilas Pilipinas members with Coach Reyes (Photo: Twitter)

"Just got word from d organizers that we have been un-invited to d Jones Cup. Di matapos-tapos ang problema ng Gilas ha," Reyes tweeted Monday.

When asked for the reason why Gilas was removed from the list, Reyes said it is because of the on-going tension between host country Taiwan and the Philippines stemming from the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman three weeks ago.

Reyes added that his team is now looking for a replacement tourney as part of their preparation for the FIBA Asia Cup in August.

Since Jones Cup's inception in 1977, the Philippines has won four times and is ranked second in the tournament's all-time list, next only to the United States, which has won fourteen titles.