Fil-Ams Mercado, Lutz uncertain of Asiad stint

MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Ams Chris Lutz and Sol Mercado, two vital cogs in Smart Gilas’ Asian Games bid, remain unsure of their stint with the team barely nine days before the quadrennial event is fired off on Nov. 12 in Guangzhou, China.

This came about after all members of Smart Gilas received their accreditation from the Asian Games organizing committee yesterday except for Lutz and Mercado, who were both late additions to the squad.

Co-skippers Chris Tiu and Mark Barroca head the Asiad-bound squad that also includes JV Casio, Mac Baracael, Greg Slaughter, Dylan Ababou, Jason Ballesteros, Japeth Aguilar, Aldrech Ramos, Fil-Am Marcio Lassiter and PBA cagers Kelly Williams and Asi Taulava.

Lutz, a former standout of US NCAA Division I school Marshall U, joined the Nationals as early as last May but was not in the roster earlier submitted by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas since he has yet to obtain his Philippine passport back then.

Mercado, loaned by his PBA mother team Rain or Shine to the squad, was a last-minute replacement to two-time PBA MVP James Yap, who pulled out due to personal reasons.

Smart Gilas officials said they would only know whether or not Lutz and Mercado would be allowed to play during the manager’s meeting on Nov. 8.

“He will tackle this during the delegation registration meeting on Nov. 8 to make sure they will get the accreditation that we need,” said SBP executive director Noli Eala referring to Moying Martelino, deputy chef de mission of the Guangzhou-bound squad.

“In the meantime, they (Lutz and Mercado) will get their Chinese visas because the team will be leaving early for a couple of tune-up games,” he said.

Smart Gilas team manager Frankie Lim said Smart Gilas will leave for China on Nov. 9 to play the Guangdong Tigers and the Dongguan Century of the Chinese Basketball Association.

“We hope to use these couple of games to help everyone, including our new players from the pros, to jell,” said Lim.

A change in the Asiad cage format loomed after Saudi Arabia and Kuwait pulled out of the competition, leaving seven other countries to fight it out for four berths in the 12-nation, two-bracket tournament proper.

In the prelims, FIBA-Asia, the region’s basketball governing body, will divide the seven countries to two groups with the top two teams of each division joining Group E or Group F in the main draw.

Group E is composed of Asian powerhouse Iran, Qatar, Japan and Chinese Taipei while Group F is comprised of Asian champion China, South Korea, Jordan and Uzbekistan.

Joining Smart Gilas in the qualifier are India, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, North Korea, Turkmenistan and Mongolia.