RP five on track for strong AG bid

MANILA, Philippines - Newly designated national basketball team manager Frankie Lim said yesterday while he’s not guaranteeing a gold medal at the Guangzhou Asian Games this November, the Smart-Gilas squad will definitely compete as a strong contender for the championship with coach Rajko Toroman.

“We’ve got a good chance to win the gold with Rajko’s leadership, two more local players and a naturalized big man,” said Lim, a former national cager himself. “We showed our potential in the recent Dubai Invitationals where we finished third, playing against teams with five imports. If only Jamal Sampson played, we should’ve made it to the finals.”

Since taking on the job two weeks ago, Lim said he has watched the team carefully at practice.

“The guys are working hard,” he said. “They look good. I’m very happy to be part of the national team once again, this time in an executive role. The team has my full support. In any way I can help the team, I will. Basketball is our premier sport and it’s our long-awaited dream to win the Asian championship. We don’t have the luxury of time because as we know, naturalization takes a long process. But by next month, we hope we’ve found the right guy and we can begin the naturalization process.”

Toroman left for the US last Monday to scout for a naturalization candidate. He will check out at least six players in the NBA D-League and a camp in Utah before flying back here on Monday. Lim contacted agents to line up the candidates in an earlier trip.

“We’re looking for a big guy, someone who can grab rebounds and give us an intimidating presence on defense,” said Lim. “We want a guy who won’t get pushed around by a 7-foot, 300-pounder, someone whom we can go to for inside points. I’m sure we can find the right guy. Our previous candidates C. J. Giles and Sampson were good players but not the right fit. We want good players and good persons.”

Lim brought in 6-10 Darian Townes of Arkansas and 6-10 Jameel Watkins of Georgetown for Toroman to try out here before he left for the US. He mentioned that 6-10 Jared Homan of Iowa State, now playing for Maroussi in the Greek league, is another candidate.

“We’re not making any abrupt decisions,” said Lim. “Rajko looked at Townes who’s good but may not be good enough. We flew in Jameel from China where he’s playing. Jameel played in the PBA before with Shell and San Miguel. We also wanted to fly in Homan but he’s still tied up in Greece.”

The two local additions to the team are sharpshooter Chris Lutz of Marshall University and, if the PBA will allow, Kelly Williams of Sta. Lucia Realty.

“The desire to recruit Kelly remains,” said Lim. “Hopefully, the PBA and Sta. Lucia will agree to lend him to the national team. At the moment, we haven’t made a formal request for Kelly. If we get a good big man, Lutz and Kelly, I think we’ll have a solid eight to nine-man rotation.”

Lim said the team recently cut Ryan Buenafe.

“Rabeh (Al-Hussaini) underwent surgery a few days ago to remove bone spurs in his foot so he’ll be out six to eight weeks and Rey Guevara is still recovering but everyone else is fine,” said Lim. “Chris Tiu, Japeth Aguilar, Jayvee Casio, R. J. Jazul, Mark Barroca, Jason Ballesteros, Marcio Lassiter, Greg Slaughter, Mac Baracael, Dylan Ababou, J. R. Cawaling and Aldrech Ramos are practicing. Rajko expressed an interest in Paul Lee and Junmar Fajardo but I’m not sure if their agents are willing to let them go.”

Lim said the team is looking forward to play at the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup in Doha on May 7-15, the Jones Cup in Taipei in July and the Asian Games in November. In between tournaments, Smart-Gilas will play exhibition games in Australia, Las Vegas, Canada and Serbia.

“We’re scheduling foreign trips for experience,” said Lim. “The exposure is necessary to bring our players to the next level. We can’t survive and get better playing only local teams. One of Rajko’s secrets of his success in Iran is getting the national team to play against some of the best players in the world. We will do the same. I’ve sat down with Rajko and told him I’m here to help because his success is the success of our country.”