Doha joust next for Phl Gilas

MANILA, Philippines - After a third place finish in the Jones Cup, Smart Gilas Pilipinas steps up its preparation for the FIBA Asia Championship as it competes in a four-team pocket tournament in Doha, Qatar beginning Aug. 24 hopefully with a complete roster.

Talk n Text’s Jimmy Alapag, Kelly Williams and Ranidel de Ocampo, who all missed the Jones Cup meet to backstop their team’s bid for a rare grand slam in the PBA, are expected to join the team in the week-long event which serves as Team Phl’s last tournament before the FIBA Asia Championship.

The FIBA-Asia tilt is set Sept. 15-25 in Wuhan, China where a lone berth in next year’s London Olympics is at stake.

“Our focus now after the Jones Cup is to join the Qatar tournament because there we will have a chance to play together with Kelly, Jimmy and Ranidel,” said Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman.

The team arrived in Manila yesterday for the much-deserved break after playing nine straight games in Taipei.

“Of course, this tournament is really for Kelly, Jimmy and Ranidel because we want them to mix well with the team since we only have about a month to prepare for Wuhan,” Toroman said.

The Doha meet will pit Smart Gilas against Lebanon, Syria and Qatar which are all legitimate contenders in Wuhan.

The tournament will use a single-round robin format with the team with the best record playing the No. 4 squad and the No. 2 facing off with No. 3 in the semifinals with the winners clashing in the finals.

Alapag, who was recently named the PBA’s season MVP, Williams and De Ocampo are expected to join fellow pros Asi Taulava of Meralco and Dondon Hontiveros of Air21 as well as naturalized player Marcus Douthit and Smart Gilas stalwarts Chris Tiu, JV Casio, Mac Baracael, Japeth Aguilar, Marcio Lassiter, Chris Lutz, Dylan Ababou and Jason Ballesteros in Doha.

Alapag presence will further boost the team’s backcourt rotation while Williams and De Ocampo are expected to fill in the slack in position four.

Team Phl beat host Chinese Taipei, 82-72, to finish third after winding up with six wins against three losses, matching the effort of the Chot Reyes-mentored Phl teams in 2005 and 2007.

Aside from two wins over Taipei, the Nationals also downed Japan, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Iran, which they beat, 73-59.

The Iranians, however, stamped their class in the semis, scoring an easy 78-59 rout over Smart Gilas before beating the Koreans, 66-59, to clinch their third straight Jones Cup crown.

Smart Gilas lost to Jordan, 72-76, and then to eventual runner-up South Korea, 70-78, in a pair of matches that could have gone either way.

“Although we have some problems with injuries and position four, we have to be satisfied with our effort,” said Toroman. “The important thing is, we proved we could compete with the best of them.”

Joey Villar, Philippine Star