Nationals play SEABA next, eye Fiba Asia seat

MANILA, Philippines - After a fourth place finish in the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup, Smart Gilas Pilipinas shifts its focus on the ninth Southeast Asian Basketball Association Men’s Championship slated June 23-26 in Jakarta, Indonesia where it would be gunning for slots in the FIBA-Asia Championship in Wuhan, China in September.

“The SEABA Men’s Championship in Jakarta late this month will be our main focus,” said Smart Gilas team manager Frankie Lim a day after the Nationals lost to Al Rayyan of Qatar to settle for fourth in the import-laced tournament.

The Rajko Toroman-mentored Filipinos will play the Malaysians, who are incidentally coached by Filipino Ariel Vanguardia, on June 23, the Indonesians the next day and the Singaporeans on June 25 based on the schedule recently released by SEABA secretary-general Dato’ Yeoh Choo Hock.

The finals will be played June 26.

The top three finishers in the four-day tournament will qualify for the Wuhan meet, which will also serve as a qualifier for the 2012 London Olympics.

Lim said they’ve performed well in the Champions Cup, considered as the strongest club tournament in the region.

“It was a good competition for Smart Gilas, we had good games with Iran and Qatar and almost made it to the finals,” said Lim. “This was a good preparation and experience for the team, the opposition pushed us to the limit and we finally got to play complete and showed fighting heart,” he added.