US stint to kick off RP team’s buildup

The Philippine team will join the Global Hoops Summer League in Las Vegas next month where it is slated to slug it out with two national teams from China and Korea as part of its buildup for the FIBA-Asia Championships in September.

"I want to play China and Korea as much as we possibly can. If we lose everytime, so be it, para lang wala ‘yung awe sa teams na iyon," said RP team mentor Chot Reyes after confirming the San Miguel Beer-Pilipinas’ participation in the tough Global Hoops League slated July 16-21 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Qatar, Nigeria, two National Basketball Developmental League and two NBA squads composed of rookies and veteran free agents are also participating in the event.

Reyes said PBA players whose teams will not reach the finals of the 2005 Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Conference will compose the Summer League squad while those who will make it will backstop the team seeing action in the William Jones Cup set July 23-30 in Taiwan.

The Nationals will then hold PBA goodwill games Aug. 15-20, a week before joining a tournament in Bahrain where Asian teams like China, Korea, Qatar, Lebanon and Japan are also expected to participate.

All of these stints will lead to the FIBA-Asia Championships in September in Doha, Qatar.

"It’s been planned, it’s been programmed. Execution and implementation na lang," said Reyes.

"It would really be a very busy schedule for us in the next few months and then it’s going to be war in September," he added.

But first things first.

And the first step for the RP team is to reach the finals of the Southeast Asian Basketball Association tournament set Aug. 2-8 in Singapore to gain a place in the Doha tournament, which serves as doorway to the 2007 World Championships in Saitama, Japan.

The RP team, bannered by a raw but determined crew, swamped Kuwait, 96-84, to finish fifth, its best in seven years, in the 16th FIBA-Asian Champions Cup last night at the Araneta Coliseum.

Al Rayyan-Qatar made key defensive stops down the stretch as it turned back a stubborn Fastlink Jordan, 83-76, to win the title.

A day after draining the game-winning triple in a 87-84 overtime victory over defending champion Sagesse Lebanon in the semifinals, Todd Day came through again with 30 points.

Earlier, the Lebanese drew a huge effort from Fadi Khatib and Elie Rafie Mechantaf as it downed the Saba Battery-sponsored Iranians, 74-71, to place third.