MANILA, Philippines - Learning from its lesson in the last year’s Guangzhou Asian Games, Smart Gilas Pilipinas is eyeing for several professional players that the PBA will loan to the national team to train a little longer for them to jell better. “The main question about the PBA is how many players they will loan to us and how long can they train and play with us,” said Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman, who arrived yesterday from a successful second place finish in the import-laced 22nd Dubai Invitational.
Toroman, who is seeking to steer the Filipinos to a possible Olympic stint the way he did with the Iranian national team before going to RP, admitted they made a mistake when they borrowed PBA players Asi Taulava, Kelly Williams and Sol Mercado just weeks before Guangzhou.
The lack of chemistry due to lack of practicing together and some injuries proved too costly for the Filipinos, who finished seventh in the quadrennial event that still rankled in the hearts of the Smart Gilas coaches and players.
Now Toroman wants the PBA players to train longer with the squad.
“In the last Asian Games in Guangzhou, we made a mistake. We don’t want to make the same mistake again. Hopefully, we can have the PBA players to play and train with us at least for three months, full time as we prepare for the the FIBA-Asia Championship,” said Toroman.
“We’ll see how the PBA teams and players will react on our request,” he added.
Toroman was hoping these PBA players could join the team in Smart Gilas’ planned international stints that included the Jones Cup in Chinese Taipei in August before engaging in battle in September’s FIBA-Asia Championship in Wuhan, China where the winner goes to the 2012 London Olympics.
Meanwhile, Toroman said they’re looking forward to a much-awaited return stint in the PBA second conference where they hope not just to sharpen the young Smart Gilas players but also to toughen up against a really tough field.
“The PBA will be a very big test for us, We’ll start preparing for our PBA stint on Friday after we get some days of rest, which we really need after a tough tournament in Dubai,” said the Serbian mentor.
“The first thing the team will do is take a few days rest before resuming practice to prepare for our stint in the PBA second conference,” Smart Gilas team manager Frankie Lim, for his part, said.
Lim said they’ve learned so much in the Dubai joust because it showed that Smart Gilas is getting better each year.
“Last year the team finished third, now Smart Gilas wound up second and a few breaks from winning it all. What we need to do is to find a way to sustain the form as well as continue to improve in time for the FIBA-Asia Championship,” said Lim.
Joey Villar, Philippine Star
