MANILA, Philippines - Smart Gilas Pilipinas leaves for Chinese Taipei tomorrow as it vies in the William Jones Cup where it hopes to toughen up for the FIBA-Asia Championship – the London Olympics qualifier – slated Sept. 15-25 in Wuhan, China.
“It will be a great competition for us, it’s going to be a tough one but we want this kind of tournament because we want to toughen up and learn a lot from this event as we prepare for Wuhan,” said Gilas coach Rajko Toroman.
The Serbian mentor said their recent campaign in the import-laced FIBA-Asia Champions Cup where the Nationals reached the semis and the Smart Ultimate All-Star Weekend where they gave a star-studded NBA cast a good fight showed their readiness to compete against the best in Asia.
“I think the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup and our game against the NBA superstars proved that we’re very competitive,” said Toroman. “Now we just need to play more games with the PBA players for us to be more cohesive.”
The presence of powerhouse teams Iran, Jordan and South Korea should make the Jones Cup, set Aug. 6-14 at the Sinjhuang Stadium in New Taipei City, a good test for the Nationals seeking no less than an Olympic slot.
Smart Gilas drew Asian powerhouse Jordan in its first game on Aug. 6 and United Arab Emirates the next day before taking a one-day break in the meet.
After the break, Smart Gilas will play seven straight games against South Korea on Aug. 9, South Africa on Aug. 10, Japan on Aug. 11, Malaysia on Aug. 12, host Chinese Taipei on Aug. 13 before capping its campaign against two-time Asian champion Iran on Aug. 14.
“The Iran game would be the biggest test for the team,” said Toroman.
The Iranians are expected to parade 7-2 Memphis Grizzlies center Hamed Haddadi both in the Jones Cup and the FIBA-Asia Championship.
Naturalized Marcus Douthit and PBA reinforcements Asi Taulava of Meralco and Dondon Hontiveros of Air21 will reinforce the Nationals, the regining SEABA champions, in the Jones Cup.
Talk N’ Text’s Kelly Williams, Ranidel de Ocampo and Jimmy Alapag are the other PBA stalwarts backstopping Smart Gilas five but will only join the team after the ongoing PBA Governors late this month.
The other members of the team are captain Chris Tiu, co-skipper Mark Barroca, JV Casio, Japeth Aguilar, Mac Baracael, Marcio Lassiter, Chris Lutz, Dylan Ababou and Jason Ballesteros.