Gilas battles Malaysia in opener

MANILA, Philippines — The Smart-Gilas Pilipinas leaves for Jakarta Tuesday with Serbian coach Rajko Toroman remains unsure and worried if they can play in full force in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) Championship.

With some players bothered by various injuries, Toroman expressed deep concern on their chances, saying: “The situation is not so good for us.”

The event set to start tomorrow serves as qualifying meet for the FIBA-Asia Championship in Wuhan, China on Sept. 15, which in turn is the qualifier for the 2012 London Olympics.

The Philippines plays Malaysia in its opening game on Thursday.

According to Toroman, they will know Tuesday if guard Marcio Lassiter, who recently suffered a back injury, can play in the SEABA.

Also dealing with injuries are guards JV Casio (foot) and Chris Lutz (quadriceps), while forward Japeth Aguilar, who showed improvement in the recent FIBA-Asia Champions Cup here, is also down with an ankle injury.

Forward Dylan Ababou is still recovering from a fever.

PBA reinforcements Asi Taulava and Dondon Hontiveros, who were supposed to play in the SEABA, were recalled by their mother teams Meralco and Air21. The two, together with Jimmy Alapag and Kelly Williams of Talk ’N Text, will be available after their teams’ campaign in the Governors’ Cup.

“It’s a tough situation, with the injuries, not having enough players. We’ll do all we can to compete in the SEABA,” Toroman said.

The remaining players of Smart-Gilas are guards Chris Tiu, Mark Barroca, forwards Mac Baracael and Jason Ballesteros, and naturalized center Marcus Douthit.

Waylon Galvez, Manila Bulletin