Injured Lassiter to miss Gilas SEABA campaigns

MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Am Marcio Lassiter joined the list of injured players of Smart Gilas Pilipinas gearing up for the Southeast Asian Basketball Association Championship slated June 23-26 in Jakarta.

Coach Rajko Toroman said Lassiter, one of the team’s reliable shooters and defenders, suffered a back injury, further reducing the already depleted Phl team vying for a slot in the FIBA-Asia Championship set Sept. 15-25 in Wuhan, China.

Smart Gilas, meanwhile, leaves for Jakarta at 9 tonight.

“Not so good, the injuries,” said Toroman, referring to his 10-player roster minus PBA players Asi Taulava of Meralco and Dondon Hontiveros of Air21.

Lassiter thus joined JV Casio (foot), Chris Lutz (quadriceps) and Japeth Aguilar (sprained ankle) in the injury list while Dylan Ababou is still recovering from fever.

The pros had opted to play for their mother clubs.

The Nationals will also be without seven-footer Greg Slaughter and 6-6 Aldrech Ramos, who will be suiting up for Ateneo and Far Eastern U, respectively, in the UAAP which will start July 9.

Naturalized Marcus Douthit and team captain Chris Tiu head the team that includes Mark Barroca, Mac Baracael and Jason Ballesteros.

“What can I say except its going to be tougher for us than expected, not thanks to these injuries and not having enough players,” said Toroman. “But we’ll do all we can to compete in the SEABA and clinch a spot in the FIBA-Asia Championship.”

Smart Gilas will play Malaysia on Thursday (June 23), host Indonesia on Friday (June 24) and Singapore on Saturday (June 25). The top two teams will play in the Finals on Sunday (June 26), although the top three teams in the four-nation event will advance to the FIBA-Asia meet.

Joey Villar, Philippine Star