MANILA, Philippines - Smart Gilas will try to use the new format to be implemented in the basketball competitions of the Asian Games as an adjustment period among the team’s mainstays and the PBA cagers. “We have three PBA players and we can use the new format as our adjustment period. We’ll see how our PBA players can make the proper adjustment,” said Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman in yesterday’s PSA Forum at Shakey’s UN Ave.
Toroman was referring to Asi Taulava of Meralco, Sol Mercado of Rain or Shine and Kelly Willaims of Talk n Text, who will backstop the team in the quadrennial meet slated Nov. 12-27 in Guangzhou, China.
A change in the Asiad cage format loomed after Saudi Arabia and Kuwait pulled out of the competition, leaving seven other countries to fight it out for the four berths in the 12-nation, two-bracket tournament proper.
Toroman, however, said the new format would put the Filipinos at risk of injury since it would mean more games for the Nationals.
“We still don’t know our opponents as of now. As for the format, it’s not good because of the possibility of injuries,” said Toroman. “But we can’t spend our energy thinking on the format and we have to pass everything they will put and just prepare ourselves for anything.
“But we are ready to show our quality and we will fight for a medal,” he said.
“It will be tough for us but we have to be ready for the challenge,” said Smart Gilas manager Frankie Lim.
In the prelims, FIBA-Asia, the region’s basketball governing body, will divide the seven countries to two groups with the top two teams of each division joining Group E or Group F in the main draw.
Group E is composed of Asian powerhouse Iran, Qatar, Japan and Chinese Taipei while Group F is comprised of Asian champion China, South Korea, Jordan and Uzbekistan.
Joining Smart Gilas in the qualifier are India, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, North Korea, Turkmenistan and Mongolia.
Though the PBA players are expected to provide firepower and class to the team, Toroman said it would be tough for these pro cagers to completely adjust to his system.
“Our original agreement with the PBA is that they’ll practice with us once or twice a week,” said Toroman. “It’s tough for our PBA players to adjust if they practise with us one or two times a week while they practice with their mother teams in the morning almost everyday.
“It’s going to be a tough competition, we haven’t really played together as a unit. It would really be tough to tell,” he said.
Joey Villar, Philippine Star
