MANILA, Philippines—Buoyed by the excellent showing of a depleted Smart Gilas Pilipinas five in the recent Fiba Asia Stankovic Cup in Beirut, national coach Rajko Toroman plans to request the PBA for two key players to join Kelly Williams in the Asian Games lineup.
In an interview with the Inquirer after a two-hour practice Thursday at the Ynares Center, Toroman said he would like to strengthen the team with shooting star James Yap, this year’s PBA Most Valuable Player, and Coca-Cola big man Asi Taulava, a last-minute reinforcement for the RP five in the Stankovic Cup.
Williams’ place in the RP five was secured early this year when he was traded to Talk ‘N Text by Sta. Lucia.
Talk ‘N Text is owned by business tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan, who is also the president of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, which bankrolls the campaign of Smart Gilas.
However, PBA board chair Rene Pardo said no formal request had been submitted to the PBA and the league only learned of the Smart Gilas requests through the media.
Pardo said he would take up the issue at the next board meeting, stressing that “we want to set up clear-cut rules and guidelines” regarding the lending of PBA players to the national team.
The PBA chair said Taulava’s Stankovic Cup stint was approved since the Tigers had been eliminated by the time the Beirut tournament started.
Pardo said the Asian Games will coincide with the opening of the All-Filipino Conference and that the absence of Yap, Williams and Taulava may affect the performance of their respective PBA teams.
Toroman said he plans to announce the Asian Games lineup within 10 days.
Toroman said he had been “looking at Ryan Reyes from the beginning, but not anymore because his wife will give birth and he wants to be near her in the middle of November during the Asian Games.”
He added that Sol Mercado, a big point guard who likes the open court and is a great finisher, was a prospect he had to drop after the cager suffered a stress fracture in the PBA playoffs.
Toroman said Yap is “one of the options” and he has already told manager Frankie Lim that “Yap wants to play.”
Toroman said Yap is “one of the options” and he has already told manager Frankie Lim that “Yap wants to play.”
“I want Chris Tiu and James Yap to play together. They’ll make a unit and everybody will cheer for our team, and that will be very, very strong.”
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