Beware of Chinese-Taipei

Gilas’ first obstacle is Chinese-Taipei at the FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah and the game is set to be played at two this morning (Manila time). Since the 2009 FIBA Asia Cup, the Philippines and Chinese-Taipei tangled in seven games with Gilas winning five. But Chinese-Taipei brought down the Philippines in their last outing, a 91-84 decision before a cheering homecrowd. Before that, the Philippines had blown out Chinese-Taipei, 106-53, at the PhilSports Arena.

Coach Tim Cone is deploying the same lineup that bowed to Chinese-Taipei last February while Taiwan is bringing back eight to Jeddah. Missing from the Chinese-Taipei cast are Lu Chun Hsiang, Shao Fu Lan, Ai Che Yu and Kuei Yu Chou. In their place were enlisted Robert and Adam Hinton, Hu Long Mao and Chen Ying Chun, all with US collegiate playing creds.

Lu’s absence is a major setback. He shot 18 points against Gilas in their February meeting and was a huge thorn on Cone’s side, hitting four of nine triples. But Chinese-Taipei’s Italian coach Gianluca Tucci, 54, added more than enough reinforcements to fill the vacuum. The Hinton brothers, both US-born, are on the roster, presumably cleared to play as locals showing Chinese-Taipei passports before they turned 16. Robert, 19, is a 6-5, 189-pound guard who averaged 14.6 points and shot 35.6 percent from three in 27 games with Harvard University as a freshman last season. Adam, 22, is a 6-4, 213-pound forward who played the last three seasons with Cornell University, averaging 1.7 points in his first year, 1.4 in his second and 4.3 in his third. Their middle name is Tsang as they claim Chinese-Taipei heritage from their mother. They began playing for Chinese-Taipei in the Jones Cup two years ago when Robert was 17 and Adam was 20.

The two other additions are 6-0 Chen, 32, and 6-5 Mao, 32. Chen played at US NCAA D2 Belmont Abbey College and D1 Liberty University before signing up in the Chinese Basketball Association first with the Guangzhou Loong Lions then last season, with the Shougang Beijing Ducks. He averaged 13.8 points, shooting 36.7 percent from three in 46 games as a starter with the Ducks. Chen and Mao are veterans of the World University Games, Asian Games and two FIBA Asia Cups. Like Chen, Mao played for a US school, NCAA D2 Chaminade University then saw action in the CBA.

Liu Cheng, 34, is the team’s senior statesman. Seven-foot Brandon Gilbeck, 28, is the naturalized player from Western Illinois University. Recognized as a local for attending high school and college in Taiwan is Japan-born 6-2 Mohammad Al Bachir Gadiaga, a Senegalese-American known as Abassi. He averaged 16.5 points and shot 34.2 percent from deep at the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers. Sharpshooters are 6-3 Lin Ting Chien and 6-5 Ma Chien Hao who fired a combined 6-of-15 triples against Gilas last February. A win over Chinese-Taipei will put Gilas in a showdown for first placein Group D against New Zealand with the game scheduled tomorrow at 11 p.m. (Manila time).