Gilas gets what it wants

IN what Smart Gilas-Pilipinas coach Rajko Toroman describes as a very ‘good group’, the country’s men’s basketball team found itself drawn with powerhouse China in Group D of the 26th FIBA-Asia Championship, the meet serving as qualifier to the 2012 London Olympics.

The official drawing of lots was held Thursday in Wuhan, China, site of the Sept. 15-25 tournament, and was supervised by FIBA Asia deputy secretary general Hagop Khajirian together with FIBA Asia honorary chairman Xin Lancheng, also the secretary general of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

As it turned out, only China appeared as the biggest threat on Smart Gilas in its group that also drew Bahrain and United Arab Emirates.

As host, China exercised its right of choice which group it will join, and readily chose Group D, which Toroman believes is one of the easier in the 16-nation event.

“There’s no doubt in that, that’s why they (Chinese) chose to play here,” said the Serbian mentor of the host’ highly-anticipated move.

Toroman added, “I think it’s only fair that we had to sometime get a favorable draw….and I hope we can utilize this favorable draw.”

The groupings were made based on the result of last year’s Stankovic Cup, where Smart Gilas made it to the semifinals.

Together with the Philippines, Lebanon, Japan, and Qatar, the four teams were seeded into four different groups.

Lebanon, winner of the Stankovic Cup, leads Group A together with Malaysia, East Asian champion South Korea, and a Middle Asia qualifier.

Two-time defending champion Iran drew Gulf competitor Qatar, East Asia’s Chinese-Taipei, and a yet to be named Middle Asia qualifier in Group B.

In Group C are Japan, which lost to Lebanon in the Stankovic Cup final, SEABA runner-up Indonesia, and West Asia’s Jordan and Syria.

Without sounding confident, Toroman believes the path to the knockout stage is a little bit trouble-free for Smart Gilas, which recently ruled the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) men’s title.

“I think we have an easier road to the quarterfinals as compared to the other side. We have a few games where we can play with less pressure,” said the coach, who steered Iran to the championship of this same tournament in 2007

Advancing to the next round meant Smart Gilas would be bracketed with teams coming from Group C which is composed of Japan, Indonesia, Syria and Jordan.

At the same time, Toroman admitted it would also be for the benefit of the national squad that it plays China early in the meet.

“It is a very good thing to play China without much pressure on the qualifying angle. We will get a reality check on where we stand and how we can adjust for the remainder of the tournament,” he said.

“Playing them so early in the competition is an excellent test for us.”

Wuhan vice mayor Liu Shunni presided over the draw proceedings in the presence of Hu Dechun, director of administration of sports of Hubei Province, Luo Changgang, director of economic and technological development zone, Zhang Jin, deputy director of administration of sports of Hubei Province and former China national team coach Liu Guiyi.

Zean Macamay, Journal Online