For the duration of the 2011 Jones Cup in Taipei, SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team assistant coach Charles Tiu, brother of Chris, will be filing exclusive dispatches for InterAKTV.

 

The big question now is, will Jayvee Casio play tomorrow against Iran in the semifinals of the Jones Cup? Well, we honestly don’t know either.

It will most probably be a game-time decision but we will not risk anything for this game. Our main goal is still to win the 2011 FIBA-Asia Championships in September, so if playing will worsen Jayvee’s injury, then we aren’t going to take that chance.

Our game is scheduled tomorrow at 7 p.m. We really hope you can watch. Iran is on a hot streak now, and they have been playing better and better, and they’ve got great defense. The other match will be between South Korea and Chinese Taipei. It’s a shame that Jordan, which is one of two teams that beat us, won’t be playing in the semifinals, because they certainly deserve to be there. They were certainly “robbed” of that spot.

In the old format of the Jones Cup, which was changed a day before the start of the tournament, we would have already finished at second place. I think it would have been the best finish for the Philippines since the Centennial Team won it all in 1998, if I’m not mistaken.

But on the bright side, this will give us a chance to go for the gold, and that’s definitely what we are out to do. We are loving the support that we are getting from the fans here in Taipei and all those back home who are cheering for us!

The semifinals game between South Korea and Chinese Taipei will be broadcast live on AKTV on IBC-13 at 5 p.m. followed by the game between SMART-Gilas Pilipinas versus Iran at 7 p.m.

 source: Charles Tiu -special to InterAKTV