Koreans could be beaten

AFTER Gilas Pilipinas’ victory over Japan on Monday night, we stayed awhile at Mall of Asia Arena to get a glimpse of the South Koreans who were to play the last match of the day against Bahrain.

Allan Gregorio, coach of the University of the Philippines Integrated School basketball squad, probably had the same thing in mind because we found him seated in the row directly behind us at ringside.

Apparently, Gregorio has not gotten over the decision of the UAAP board to rule one of his players, Jozhua General,  as ineligible to play this season.  The ruling meant that the Junior Maroons forfeited their hard-earned victory—in quadruple overtime—over the Adamson Baby Falcons. The Junior Maroons remained winless at 0-3.

“Jozhua is eligible, because as per (Department of Education), his graduation from Lourdes Mandaluyong in 2010 was his elementary graduation,” Gregorio explained. “That supersedes his Grade 6 graduation in Naga. He was cleared by the eligibility committee to play before the season started, thus that must be respected, too.”

Gregorio said he plans to contest the protest filed by National University.

“Why forfeit the UPIS quadruple OT win and take away a rare feat and a UAAP record?” Gregorio said. “Why take away an opportunity from a young man when the rule does not state that a cager’s first graduation has to be considered even if the boy was given a higher level of elementary graduation certified by the DepEd?”

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As Gregorio poured out his woes, Rajko Toroman walked in front of us on his way to the exit, waving to our group animatedly. The Serbian coach, former mentor of the Iran and Philippine national teams, must be the most interviewed basketball personality these days.

Before the start of the tournament, Toroman told a veteran scribe that Gilas is capable of beating all the teams in its group. He also said that Gilas could beat the other powerhouse teams, and that he wouldn’t be surprised if the local boys ended up fighting Iran for the title.

I never wrote about this because it wasn’t my interview. But months before the Fiba Asia Championship, Toroman boldy predicted that Gilas is capable of winning the championship basically because the team enjoys hometown advantage. This was my interview, but I didn’t take him seriously at the time because I thought it was too early to tell.

So far, only Toroman, I believe, has issued this fearless forecast. I guess he knows what he’s talking about.

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Having seen South Korea play, my companions and I unanimously agreed that the Koreans were not really that formidable and that Gilas could beat them.