Gilas eyes tune-up against Lebanon

MANILA, Philippines - Smart Gilas Pilipinas is considering adding Lebanon to its tune-up matches as it gears up for the FIBA Asia Championships in Wuhan, China next month.

The Nationals are scheduled to play Qatar and Jordan in their buildup for the Wuhan meet with a couple of games with Lebanon, the 2010 Stankovic Cup champion, expected to further toughen up the team, according to coach Rajko Toroman.

“We need as many games as we can playing as a full team for all the players to get to know each other more on the court,” said Toroman.

The tune-up games with the Middle East teams will mark the first time that Talk n Text players Jimmy Alapag, Kelly Williams and Ranidel de Ocampo will be playing with the Nationals. The three skipped Smart Gilas’ previous international campaigns to play for their mother team in the PBA.

But the pro season over, Alapag, Williams and de Ocampo are all primed up to join the team’s buildup for the FIBA Asia tilt slated Sept. 15-25 where a lone Olympic berth is at stake.

De Ocampo has already joined the team practice yesterday while Alapag and Williams will plunge into training starting Sept. 3 following a brief vacation in the US.

Naturalized Marcus Douthit’s scheduled return from a two-week vacation, also in the US, was delayed due to Hurricane Irene that hit the US last weekend.

Alapag, Williams and Douthit, however, are all expected to show up when the Nationals take on the Jordanians and Qataris in a four-day series starting Sept. 8.