MANILA, Philippines — Smart-Gilas Pilipinas wants four of the team’s stars to stay with the national team at least until 2013 so they can be on hand when the Philippines tries to make a run for a spot in the World Championship.

Smart is reportedly trying to woo Chris Tiu, JV Casio, as well as Fil-Americans Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz to stay with the team even as the four are reportedly being tempted with the promise of a lucrative and rewarding PBA career.

In fact three of them have already submitted their applications for the PBA Rookie Draft slated Aug. 28 at the Robinson’s Place in Ermita, Manila.

The only remaining holdout is Tiu whose application is still being awaited at deadline Thursday.

But Gilas reportedly will not be giving up rights to the four players without a fight.

Casio submitted his application Thursday, the last day for submission of applications.

On the other hand, the papers of Lassiter and Lutz were forwarded at the PBA Commissioner’s Office last month.

But even if the applications are already with the PBA, the players can still pull out of the draft by informing the office of the PBA commissioner that they are withdrawing two days before draft day, or by skipping the rookie camp.

Powerade, which owns the No. 1 pick in the Draft, announced it will pick Tiu if he decides to join the Draft.

The source said that Smart-Gilas management, though, will continue to negotiate with the four players to stay in the national team even though they have submitted their applications.

“They can apply, but Smart-Gilas will continue to talk to them,” said the source who asked not to be named. “If they decide to stay with the national team and continue with the program, they can easily pull out from the Draft.”

“If not, at least their names are already on the list of applicants. We all understand that playing in the PBA is also a dream for these players,” added the source.

The same source said that the Smart-Gilas management decided to just pursue four, thus giving the ‘green light’ to other national team members to go with their Draft plans.

The other players who have submitted the Draft requirements were Mark Barroca, Mac Baracael, Dylan Ababou and Jason Ballesteros.

As for naturalized 6-foot-10 center Marcus Douthit, his performance will be evaluated after team’s campaign in the FIBA-Asia Championship in Wuhan, China on Sept. 15, the qualifying tournament for the 2012 London Olympics.

source: Waylon Galvez -MB

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

Smart Gilas-Pilipinas rallied past Japan, 94-78, to book a semifinal seat in the 33rd William Jones Cup basketball tournament at the end of preliminary play Friday at the Hsinjhuang Stadium in New Taipei City, Taiwan.

The Nationals finished the eliminations with a 5-2 card to take the second seeding going into Saturday's Final Four round, where they will face No. 3 team and two-time defending champion Iran. They stunned the Iranians in the opener, 73-59.

The last time the country ruled the annual cage meet was in 1998 behind coach Tim Cone and his high-profile RP Centennial team.

South Korea took the top ranking to arrange a duel with No. 4 seed and host Chinese-Taipei.

A loss by Gilas to Japan would have allowed Jordan to advance by virtue of the winner-over-the other rule in case of a tie. The Jordanians won over the Nationals, 76-72, early in the eliminations.

But Dondon Hontiveros would never allow the Japanese to pull an upset. His two three-pointers in the fourth quarter sparked a huge 16-2 run that turned a 65-68 deficit into an 81-70 lead with four minutes and eight seconds left in the game.

Marcus Douthit was again at the forefront of Gilas' offense with 32 points while also grabbing 18 rebounds. He teamed up with Hontiveros and fellow big man Japeth Aguilar in that Gilas scoring run.

"They played great. We didn't play bad (in the first half), they (Japane) just played good. I told the players we have to put a lot of energy because it's not easy to stop them from shooting," Gilas coach Rajko Toroman said.

Japan's outside gunners had a field day in the first half, nailing seven three-pointers with Keijuro Matsui shooting 5-of-5.

Matsui made his final three-pointer in the first half with a minute left in the second period to give Japan a 47-42 lead. The Japanese took a 49-44 advantage at the break.

"I’m very satisfied with our performance. This Japan team is young, they know how to play, very disciplined, quick and they have great shooters," Toroman added.

Matsui typified Japan's sizzling outside shooting as he fired a perfect 8-of-8 from the same spot, while missing just one of his two free throws for a team-high 27 points.

Scores:

Smart-Gilas Pilipinas 94 — Douthit 32, Hontiveros 14, Tiu 11, Lassiter 11, Lutz 9, Barroca 8, Aguilar 7, Taulava 2, Casio 0, Baracael 0, Ballesteros 0, Ababou 0.

Japan 78 — Matsui 27, Nishimura 11, Okada 9, Hinkley 8, Ota 7, Shonaka 5, Togashi 5, Ito 4, Arao 2, Kamata 0, Noguchi 0, Sakai 0.

Quarter scores: 24-20; 49-44; 65-68; 94-78.

source: JVP, GMA News

NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan — Having played and starred for three national teams as the starting center, veteran player Asi Taulava doesn’t mind if he comes off the bench and play back up to naturalized player Marcus Douthit in the Smart-Gilas Pilipinas.

“He’s the better, more talented big guy,” said Taulava, who is here with improving the rest of the national team competing in the William R. Jones Cup. “That was the reason the SBP went out to naturalize him. That’s what we’re lacking.”

“We’re lacking somebody in Marcus’s size, his athletic ability, the way he plays. He’s an NBA material. He’s such a great player. He’s got everything that you can ask for,” he said.

“I feel good backing up Marcus. I can learn from him, the other things he does. I’m just happy to be on the team with him. He makes my job so much easier when I’m matching up against the seven-footers,” added Taulava.

The 38-year-old Taulava has played under coach Jong Uichico during the Asian Games in Busan and the PBA-backed team lost to South Korea in the semifinals.

He was also a member of two other RP team composed of professional players, in 2007 with mentor Chot Reyes in the FIBA-Asia Championship in Tokushima, Japan, and with coach Yeng Guiao during the 2009 FIBA-Asia Championship in Tianjin, China.

In both tournaments, which served as Olympic and World Championship qualifiers, respectively, the Nationals failed to achieve their goal.

With Smart-Gilas, Taulava, a former PBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), feels that they have a better chance in next month’s FIBA-Asia Championship in Wuhan, China, the qualifier for the 2012 London Olympics.

The national team is playing Jordan (2-0) at presstime. Smart-Gilas will face Malaysia Tuesday.

source:  Waylon Galvez -MB