GILAS PILIPINAS BARES INCHEON ASIAD LINEUP
Nine members of the silver-medal winning Philippine team in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship have been tapped to don the national colors in the Asian Games in Incheon, Korea in September.
Gilas Pilipinas veterans Jayson Castro, LA Tenorio, Gary David, Jeff Chan, Gabe Norwood, Marc Pingris, Ranidel de Ocampo, Japeth Aguilar and June Mar Fajardo made the team together with Paul Lee, Jared Dillinger and naturalized player Andray Blatche.
After their second-place finish in the last FIBA Asia Championship, the Nationals’ goal is to make it all the way to the top in the Incheon meet.
The Philippines has never won an Asiad gold medal since the last of its four Asiad title runs in 1962. And the Filipinos have never had a podium finish since the Tim Cone-mentored PHL Centennial team won the bronze medal in 1998 in Bangkok, Thailand.
In 2010 in Guangzhou, China, coach Rajko Toroman and his team finished sixth place behind China, South Korea, Iran, Japan and Qatar.
Aguilar will be the lone returnee from that team that included Asi Taulava, Kelly Williams, Jason Ballesteros, Mac Baracael, Mark Barroca, JV Casio, Marcio Lassiter, Chris Lutz, Sol Mercado, Greg Slaughter and Chris Tiu.
Absent in the previous Asiad, Team PHL needed to go through the qualifying round, playing and beating Kuwait before making the group plays with Iran, Japan, India, Chinese Taipei and Qatar.
Victories over India (78-57), Chinese Taipei (82-73) and Qatar (90-68) sent the Filipinos to the knockout stage where they bowed to the Koreans, 66-74, in the quarterfinals.
They then beat North Korea, 96-69, before bowing to the Qataris, 71-81, to wind up sixth.
But as Gilas Pilipinas placed second to Iran in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship, the Filipinos won’t aim for less than that in Incheon.
“The goal is to win the gold. That’s our marching order from Mr. MVP (Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Manny V. Pangilinan),” said Reyes.
After winning the gold medal in 1951, 1954, 1958 and 1962, the Philippines waited for nearly three decades to end a medal drought with a silver medal feat by coach Sonny Jaworski and his team in Beijing in 1990.
That achievement has remained unsurpassed up to now. (SB)
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