MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine participation in the FIBA-Asia Championship next month has taken an element of desperation as four stars of the Smart-Gilas basketball team continue to nurse injuries stemming from their recent Jones Cup campaign while Dondon Hontiveros has dropped out of the team.

The team is also in the midst of a possible drastic makeover as several major players have submitted their names to join the PBA draft later this month although the team got a break when Chris Tiu decided to stay with Gilas.

Toroman said the PBA draft, which is perhaps deep in the minds of the players, is not much of his concern. Rather he is thinking about the players’ health or their ability to return to practice as soon as possible.

Toroman is also concern about the man who will fill in the void left by Hontiveros.

“He (Hontiveros) said he’s already tired and that he might not be able contribute in the FIBA-Asia that’s why he dropped out,” Toroman said.

Sources said Talk ‘N Text’s Ryan Reyes and Larry Fonacier are the possible replacement for Hontiveros as their visa documents are being processed to enable them to join in tournament in Doha.

The national team resumed its training last Thursday with only eight players in attendance.

Absent were guards JV Casio and Chris Tiu, forward Chris Lutz and naturalized center Marcus Douthit who are all recovering from injuries.

Casio’s left knee is still swollen, which sidelined him during the last three games of Smart-Gilas in the recent Jones Cup in Taipei. Tiu sprained his right ankle, Lutz has a swollen left elbow and Douthit has a strained right knee, all acquired from the Jones Cup series.

Toroman’s biggest concern, however, is Casio, who he said will play a big part in the national team’s campaign in the FIBA-Asia Championship in Wuhan, China on Sept. 15, the qualifier for the 2012 London Olympics.

“He’ll be out for two weeks, and after that we still don’t know if he’ll be available in Wuhan,” Toroman said yesterday. “It’s terrible to have these injuries at this time with less than a month before tournament.”

“We already know their plans of joining the draft, so that’s not a problem. Our main concern at the moment is the injuries of our key players. Hopefully they’ll be fine in time for FIBA-Asia,” Toroman added.

The team will leave for Doha either Tuesday or Wednesday for the four-nation invitational tournament against Qatar, Lebanon and Syria, and Casio has been ruled out from the competition.

Casio is among the Gilas players who submitted applications for the PBA Rookie Draft set Aug. 28 at the Robinson’s Place in Ermita Manila.

source: Waylon Galvez -MB