Tough but good RP draw — Chot

The Philippines drew a tough bracket in the sixth FIBA-Asia Champions Cup, finding itself bunched with defending champion Lebanon and Busan Asian Games third placer Kazakhstan when the event is staged May 29 at the Araneta Coliseum.

With a tall, import-laden Iran side, runner-up to the Sydney Kings in the recent Singapore Cup, and an unpredictable India squad also in its group, the Chot Reyes-mentored Philippine team will indeed be hard-pressed to come up with a superb performance from the PBA’s top stars to keep its title bid alive in the week-long tournament.

"Definitely we got into the stronger bracket," said Reyes. "My feeling is it’s a good draw because we’ll have four tough games but then again, it would put in jeopardy our chances to qualify for the semis."

Format of the event will have each group playing in a single round elims with the top two advancing into the crossover semifinals with the winners battling each other in a sudden-death championship match.

Still, Reyes and the RP team will be coming into the event ready and in a right frame of mind.

"We will go into the tourney with a mindset of improving and learning from these teams but of course I also want to win. Hopefully, we could hit two birds with one stone by improving on our team buildup and winning the championship," said Reyes.

Syria, another fancied bet, heads Group B that includes Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan with South Korea making a last-minute withdrawal from the event.

The Philippines had looked forward to a favorable draw with lesser fancied teams but instead found itself grouped with the big guns during the draw of lots at the FIBA Secretariat Office in Kuala Lumpur. — Dante Navarro