Down to five able men, Gilas remains Seaba favorite

JAKARTA—Down to five healthy men, Smart Gilas Pilipinas still expects no less than the championship in the 9th Southeast Asian Basketball Association (Seaba) Championship which starts today at the BritAma Arena here.

The Nationals get going against Malaysia with PH five coach Rajko Toroman relying heavily on team captain Chris Tiu, Mark Barroca, Mac Baracael, Jason Ballesteros and naturalized center Marcus Douthit.

“Nothing has changed. Our goal remains the same, which is to be champion of Seaba,” said Toroman, after conducting a light workout yesterday to rest his ailing players.

Forward Japeth Aguilar is recuperating from an ankle injury while JV Casio (foot), Chris Lutz (quadriceps), Dylan Ababou (fever) and Marcio Lassiter (back) are far from 100 percent.

“We’re hoping some of them, if not all, could see some action because we will need all the help we could get,” said Toroman.

The top three teams in the tournament advance to the Fiba Asia Championship on Sept. 15 to 25 in Wuhan, China, where the champion gets a slot in the 2012 London Olympics.

Unlike the previous national team of PBA stars, which dominated the Seaba tilt two years ago by an average winning margin of 38 points, Toroman said the goal is just to win this time.

“We’ll just win all our games,” said Toroman, who had earlier allowed Dondon Hontiveros and Asi Taulava to rejoin their respective PBA squads in the ongoing Governors’ Cup.

The Powerade-supported squad under coach Yeng Guiao swept its four assignments in Medan, Indonesia, two years ago by crushing the Singaporeans (117-69), the Indonesians (103-64) and the Malaysians (100-73) before trouncing the hosts, 98-68, in the finals.

Despite the injuries, Smart Gilas team manager Frankie Lim said the morale of the team remains high.
“We’re fine. I think we’re ready for the tournament,” said Lim.

Smart Gilas takes on host Indonesia tomorrow and Singapore on Saturday before the top two teams dispute the crown on Sunday.