Gilas faces Lebanon in Dubai cage opener

MANILA, Philippines - Smart Gilas Pilipinas takes on Anibal Zahle of Lebanon at the start of the 22nd Dubai Invitational basketball tournament today, confident of its chances in the import-laced tournament at the Al Ahli Club gym.

Reinforced by naturalization candidate Marcus Douthit and PBA standout Asi Taulava, the Nationals set out to improve on their third place finish last year when they pulled the rug from under the fancied teams that paraded three imports.

“Our target is to improve on our third place finish last year that’s why we’re targeting to make it to the finals,” said Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman.

The Filipinos primed up for the event by sweeping a pair of tune-up games in Bahrain with team captain Chris Tiu leading the way in the final game with a 14-point, eight-assist effort for a 92-80 victory.

“The morale of the team is high, we’re hoping for the best,” said Smart Gilas manager Frankie Lim.

Smart Gilas is also expected to draw support from thousands of Filipino workers in Dubai and nearby cities the way they did last year when they virtually turned the venue into virtual home court for the Phl team.

Organizers, in fact, are expecting another huge Filipino turnout that all the group matches of the Nationals are scheduled in the last and main game of the day, which is every 1 a.m. (Phl time).

After Lebanon, Smart Gilas will take on Al Etihad of Egypt on Saturday before taking a break on Sunday. It will then battle Sharjah Club of UAE on Monday before closing out its elimination round stint against Al Wahda of Syria on Tuesday.

The other bracket is composed of Lebanese club teams Sagesse and Hoop and the UAE national squad.

“We’re expecting to also draw strength from our big Filipino supporters in Dubai, it’s like practically our homecourt,” said Lim.

But they’ll be up against an Anibal Zahle team teeming with talented imports in Americans Tiras Wade and Terrence Shannon and Libyan national Alpha Bangura.

The 6-7 Wade, a former La Fayette standout, had stints in Italy, France, Hungary, Dominican Republic, Israel and Venezuela as well as the NBA’s D-League before signing up with Anibal Zahle, which finished fifth in Lebanon’s Division A league.

The 6-7 Shannon, meanwhile, is veteran of the USBL, CBA and IBL as well as the European circuit while the 30-year-old Bangura played college ball for St. John and the Libyan national team that represented the African continent in the 2009 FIBA Championship.