"We took into consideration schedules of PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) teams playing on May 11 while still maintaining balance for both teams," said Reyes in a letter to PBA commissioner Noli Eala.
Reyes said he will split the top players in the national pool, mainly from the PBA, into two separate teams to face the Kings. An earlier plan to use a nucleus for both teams was scuttled.
With the recent addition of five Philippine Basketball League (PBL) recruits and the return of the Cebuana Lhuillier players, the national pool has ballooned to over 50 aspirants.
"We decided against using a nucleus because some of the players will play in the PBA on Wednesday and it would be too much for them to play three straight games," said Reyes. "So we’re doing some experimenting like playing Jimmy Alapag and Mike Cortez on one team and Willie Miller and Mark Caguioa on the other. This will be a good test for the guys."
In the preliminary to each Kings game in the two-day series, the other hopefuls in the pool will be split into two teams and play each other. Both training teams will be anchored by six Lhuillier players. One squad will be reinforced by PBL players from Magnolia, Granny Goose and Toyota Otis while the other by PBL players from Harbor Centre, Welcoat and Montaña.
The Team A lineup consists of Mike Cortez, Jimmy Alapag, Dondon Hontiveros, Renren Ritualo, Nic Belasco, Jay Washington, Kerby Raymundo, Enrico Villanueva, Yancy de Ocampo and Sonny Thoss.
The Team B roster is made up of Willie Miller, Mark Caguioa, James Yap, Brandon Cablay, Tony de la Cruz, Kelly Williams, Danny Seigle, Eric Menk, Rafi Reavis, Dorian Peña and Romel Adducul.
Only five players were retained from the Team A lineup and seven from Team B in the casts that Reyes used in the recent two-game Iran series. Back on Team A are Hontiveros, Ritualo, Raymundo, de Ocampo and Thoss while the Team B holdovers are Caguioa, Yap, Cablay, de la Cruz, Menk, Reavis and Pena.
National team manager Ramon Ang, San Miguel Corp. vice chairman and president, is hosting a dinner for the players, coaching staff, the Australian visitors, PBA chairman Buddy Encarnado, Eala and PBA officials at the Diamond Hotel on Roxas Boulevard after the game on Tuesday.
The Kings are arriving from Singapore on Monday after playing in a four-nation tournament against the Beijing Ducks of China, the TG Xers of South Korea and Fastlink of Jordan this weekend. The Singapore tournament is being scouted by Reyes’ assistant Binky Favis.
Calling the shots for the Kings is Brian Goorjian, a four-time NBL Coach of the Year awardee and Australian national coach. He will conduct a one-hour coaching clinic possibly at a function room at the Astoria before Tuesday’s game.
Goorjian, 53, played at Pepperdine University, the same Malibu NCAA Division I school that produced Fil-Am star Ricardo Brown. His father Ed, a former Marine and now retired, succeeded Ron Jacobs as Loyola Marymount University head coach in 1980.
Goorjian went to Australia in 1977 to play as an import and eventually became a coach.
In the Kings website, Goorjian cited the skyrocketing popularity of the game in Asia.
"Certainly the Yao Ming factor has made a huge difference in Asia," said Goorjian. "And I think the inclusion into the NBA of a number of other players from our region, like Andrew Bogut, is only going to increase basketball’s standing in this area. I think we are in for an exciting growth period over the next 10 years. The potential is awesome."
The Kings 10-man touring squad is composed of Olympic veteran 6-2 guard C. J. Bruton, 6-8 national team player Ben Knight, 6-10 former national team center Brett Wheeler, 6-6 forward Luke Brennan, 6-1 guard B.J. Carter, 6-8 forward Graeme Dann, 6-4 guard-forward Brad Sheridan, 6-7 forward David Barlow, 5-10 point guard Luke Martin and 6-8 import Damon (Wild Child) Thornton.