Smart Gilas eyes two international meets

MANILA—Smart Gilas Pilipinas will join a pair of foreign tournaments late next month as part of its preparation for the Fiba Asia Championship.

Coach Rajko Toroman said the Nationals are eyeing a stint in a four-nation meet in Doha and another tournament in Macau right after the William Jones Cup in Taipei on Aug. 6 to 14.

The Jones Cup was supposed to be the final tuneup of the Filipinos prior to the Asian championship in Wuhan, China, on Sept. 15 to 25 but Toroman, wanted more international games for the squad.

Toroman said national teams of other countries playing in the Asian championship could join the Macau and Qatar tilts.

“Those tournaments are designed to prepare [national teams] for Wuhan,” said Toroman.

Smart Gilas is also organizing a pair of exhibition games against a selection of NBA stars headed by NBA MVP Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls and back-to-back league scoring champion Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma Thunder after canceling the foreign training this month in Portugal and Turkey.

Out of the 16 countries in the Asian championship, only the champion will bag a ticket to the 2012 London Olympics.

The losing finalist and third-placer will gain slots to the Fiba Olympic qualifier early next year, a tougher route going to London since countries which flopped in the other continental qualifiers will be there.