Two big men candidates for RP-5 center

MANILA, Philippines - The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas is seriously looking at two American players to naturalize in the hope of providing Smart Gilas more beef as the team competes against Asia’s powerhouse teams.

Seven-footer Michael Fey, who played for US NCAA Division I school UCLA from 2001 to 2005, and 6-foot-10 NBA journeyman Dwane Jones are the ones being considered by Smart Gilas, according to SBP executive director Noli Eala.

“Right now, our top two choices are Fey and Jones,” said Eala. “Fey is a legitimate seven-footer from UCLA while Jones has limited offensive skills but is a monster rebounder and defender.

“At any rate, I believe either one of them will be a good choice,” he added.

Smart Gilas’ Serbian coach Rajko Toroman and team manager Frankie Lim recently returned from the US where they held tryouts.

Actually, Courtney Simms, who averaged a solid 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in his four years with the University of Michigan Wolverines, was the most impressive. But the SBP was beaten to the punch by the Golden State Warriors, who will sign up the 6’11” slotman.

Although Fey and Jones are now on top of the list, Eala said they’re not yet delisting Gabriel Hughes, currently playing for the Los Angeles D-Fenders in the NBA’s developmental league, the NBDL, former PBA import Earl Barron and a mysterious Kurt Lody.

Eala said he would meet with Toroman and Lim today to deliberate on which among these candidates will replace Jamal Sampson, who was recently released for failing to meet Smart Gilas’ expectations.

Whoever is chosen, Eala stressed, will join the Nationals in the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup in Doha, Qatar this May.

“Coach Rajko, Frankie and I are going to meet tomorrow (Tuesday) to decide on the matter. But for sure, we will go to the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup with an American import,” said Eala.

“The same player could be with us until the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games and the Olympic qualifier in 2011 because naturalization is a long and tedious process and we have to start as soon as possible,” he added.

But it looked like the SBP would choose between the offense-minded Fey or the defense-oriented Jones.

Fey compiled norms of 8.6 points and 4.8 rebounds for the Bruins while Jones was a teammate of NBA veterans Jameer Nelson, Delonte West and Matt Caroll when then top seed St. Joseph made it to the Elite Eight of the 2004 NCAA.

He was an undrafted rookie in 2005 but was signed up by the Minnesota Timberwolves the same year before hopping with the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and the Charlotte Bobcats.

Although Jones’ stat lines were a little bit more impressive, he had some bad records in Europe that might influence their decision. Jones reportedly left the Serbian Red Star last year in the final stretch of the Belgrade tournament for unknown reasons.

That’s why the SBP is hoping the naturalized player will not turn out a CJ Giles and Jamal Sampson, who were the earlier choices of Smart Gilas but were eventually dropped for different reasons.  

“As soon as we finalized everything, Frankie will start the negotiation. I hope everything will turn out fine so we could continue our preparation for the 2011 Olympic qualifier,” said Eala.    – Joey Villar