Be the best, but beat China first – Yao Ming

MANILA, Philippines - Beat China.

This was the advice given by former NBA star Yao Ming to Smart Gilas Pilipinas 2.0 which is gearing up for the FIBA Asia Championship in August.

He, however, did not elaborate.

“I have to reconsider whether or not to give you this suggestion,” said Yao during the press conference of the Philippines-China Friendship Games early yesterday at the Grand Ballroom of the Solaire Hotel and Casino in Entertainment City in Pasay.

Yao is in town to be with the Shanghai Sharks, a basketball club he owns, while they held clinics yesterday. The Sharks, without Yao, will play the Smart Gilas tonight at the MOA Arena before closing out their visit against a PBA selection tomorrow at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

The 7-6 Yao played nine seasons with the Houston Rockets in the NBA but was forced to retire in 2011 due to foot and ankle injuries. He saw action in the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Olympics and the 2006 FIBA World Championship for China, which already has seven Olympic appearances after topping the Asian Championship 15 times and Asian Games on seven occasions.

The Phl, which considers basketball as its national pastime, has never gone past the Asian level for decades now.

The last time the Filipinos made it to the World Championship was in 1978 when the country hosted it, finishing eighth in a field of 14 while the last Olympic stint came six years before, in the 1972 Munich Games where they wound up 13th out of 16 squads.

The Nationals hope to end that long wait as they seek at least a top three finish in the FIBA-Asia Championship the Phl will host at the MOA Arena this August for a stint in the 2014 FIBA Worlds in Spain.

The Sharks, without Yao, get the chance to test Gilas’ strength when they collide tonight.

“We fully respect our opponent, we are prepared,” said Yao.