MANILA, Philippines - Sa katatapos na 31st William Jones Cup iisang katotohanan lamang ang lumilitaw sa kapaligiran ng Asian basketball, at ito ay ang pagtatag ng Middle East bilang bagong kalaban o bansa sa dominasyon ng China sa rehiyon.
Ito ang assessment ni RP-Powerade coach Yeng Guiao sa pagsasara ng 9-day, 9-nation event na dinomina ng bansang Middle East na Iran, Lebanon at Jordan.
Napagwagian ng Iranians, ang reigning FIBA-Asia champion, ang kampeonato sa pamamagitan ng mataas na quotient laban sa Lebanese at Jordanians.
Ang Powerade Team Pilipinas, na may dalawang panalo lamang ay pang-anim--pinakamababang nakuha ng PBA selection sa taunang torneo na pinagharian ng mga Pinoy noong 1981, 1985 at 1998.
“With their size, their NBA players, their naturalized players and their big improvement, these Middle East teams are now really tough to beat,” ani Guiao.
“It’s (the Jones Cup experience) a realization that the Asian countries are beatable. We can beat them with little preparation. Against the Middle East teams, we have to have luck on our side. We need exceptional three-point shooting to beat them,” dagdag ni Guiao.
Gayunpaman nananati-ling kumpiyansa ang maini-ting national mentor na may tsansa silang masungkit ang layuning makasama sa top three sa nalalapit na FIBA-Asia championship.
“It’s a daunting task but not mission impossible,” ani Guiao na kailangang makapasok ang koponan sa top three sa Tianjin, China para makasali sa Turkey World Championship sa susunod na taon.
“We already had the luck in the draw. Assuming we can’t beat Iran (in the A and B cluster), I think all others (Korea, Japan, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Chinese-Taipei and Kuwait) are beatable. We have a realistic chance to make the quarters. But after that, things would already be doubly tough for us,” ani pa ni Guiao.
Kaagad nagbalik sa ensayo sa Nationals kahapon pagdating galing ng Taipei. (Nelson Beltran)