MANILA, Philippines—While sizing up their prospective Asian opponents, coach Franz Pumaren considered tweaking the national youth lineup to form the best set of 18-under players who can approximate the height and heft of the continent’s top junior squads.

“They’re not really changes; we just have to open our eyes to new talents,” said Pumaren.

“We know the level of competition we’re playing in the Asian youth championship. Hopefully, we can discover new talents who can really help us. We need additional size. It’s no longer just about the conditioning factor. It’s about trying to put up a new system because we’ll be playing an entirely different type of teams.”

In three months, the Nokia Philippine Youth Team will debut on a bigger stage when it competes in the FIBA Asia Youth championship in Tehran, Iran, from Aug. 28 to Sept. 5.

The Philippines earned the right to represent the region after ruling the 7th Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) Championship for Junior Men recently in Kuala Lumpur.

But Pumaren made it clear there will be no cattle-call tryouts.

“I need about two to three more players,” said Pumaren, named Best Coach of the SEABA tournament.

“A 15-man pool is enough. But if we see someone special who can contribute, we’ll put him in. I’ve seen some guys (in the current lineup) who I think will have a hard time playing against bigger and taller guys. We’re looking at other guys who can step in and help us with our campaign in the Asian youth.”

Led by Filipino-Canadian Norbert Torres, the young nationals swept their four assignments by an average of 42 points.

The 6-foot-7 Torres, whose parents hail from Bulacan, bagged the Most Valuable Player plum by averaging 11 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.25 blocks a game.

Mark Joel De Guzman, meanwhile, turned out to be a revelation as the underrated College of St. Benilde guard normed 10 points, 1.75 assists and a tournament-best 3.75 steals to clinch the Top Defender award.