Fresh off signing a contract extension with his Japanese ballclub, St. Dwight is ready for more national team action.
It’s good to be Dwight Ramos nowadays.
The Gilas Pilipinas and Levanga Hokkaido forward is in Manila for a brief vacation following the conclusion of his B.League team’s season, and while here, the club announced that they had re-signed him for another season.
One of his frequent stops has been the ongoing FilOil EcoOil Preseason Cup in San Juan where he’s been watching younger brother Eli play for the Adamson Falcons.
On Wednesday he was courtside again with his significant other, Kim Kianna Dy of the PLDT High Speed Hitters, to soak in the Falcons’ game against UAAP champions De La Salle Green Archers, Kim’s alma mater. The Green Archers, starring Dwight’s Gilas teammate Kevin Quiambao, won 80-72.
“(The DLSU-Adamson game) was all right,” Dwight told The GAME in an exclusive interview. “Preseason, two teams, they played pretty well, both of them.”
Dwight also had some thoughts about the performance of his kid brother Eli. “He’s all right. (He) definitely needs some things to work on, but it’s preseason. I’d like to see him more aggressive and confident, but I guess that comes with time.”
Before the game, Quiambao walked over to where Ramos and Dy were seated and gave Dwight a fist bump. KQ, the youngest member of the current Gilas pool, has improved a lot in Dwight’s eyes.
“Yeah, for sure. He’s still young, he can do a lot and he’s only improving. I remember the first time, his main thing was that floater shot but now he can do pretty much everything. But kudos to him, he really worked on his game.”
Ramos averaged 10.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for Levanga Hokkaido last season, even as his season came to a premature end after he suffered an orbital fracture. Now, he’s looking forward to next season in Japan, which would be his fourth.
“The past season was all right. I got a couple injuries that kept me out of the games but I’m excited for next year. Probably (I’ll be) stepping into more of a leadership role and I’m excited for it.”
But before resuming his basketball career in Japan, Ramos, together with Quambao and the rest of the Gilas pool, will be competing in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament from July 2 to 7in Riga, Latvia.
Gilas will begin their training camp on June 21. They are in Group A along with the hosts and Georgia. In Group B are Brazil, Montenegro, and Cameroon.
The top two teams advance to the crossover semifinals. Only the OQT winner will book a ticket to Paris.
Ramos said his orbital fracture is “not 100%” healed yet, but he’s ready to rep the country again.
“It doesn’t really change anything about how I play or anything so I should be all right. I should be good to go. I’m just trying to get in shape and be ready for all that, everything that comes with it. I should be ready, though.”
Banner Image from FIBA.
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