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THE San
Miguel-Pilipinas team, fresh from its conquest of the
Southeast Asian Basketball Association Men’s
Championship in Ratchaburi, Thailand, is leaving for a
tough European tournament in
Belgrade
two weeks from now and the William Jones Cup in
Chinese-Taipei in early July.
A
planned trip to Qatar after the Belgrade jaunt was
scrapped during a management committee meeting yesterday
at the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) office,
but a proposed five-team Manila Invitational which would
include China got the green light.
The
Belgrade battle is set from June 12 to 20, with the
Jones Cup, taking the place of the Qatar Invitational
(June 22 to 28), set from July 2 to 10.
China
has confirmed its participation in the Manila
Invitational scheduled after the Jones Cup, and
announced it will be sending the national squad that
will see action in the Fiba-Asia Men’s Championship, the
pre-Olympic qualifying tournament set from July 28 to
August 5 in Tokushima, Japan.
In the
meeting which lasted more than three hours were PBA
chairman Ricky Vargas, commissioner Noli Eala, cice
chairman Tony Chua, SMC-RP team manager Robert Non,
national coach Chot Reyes, and PBA officials Perry
Martinez, Rickie Santos, Willie Marcial, Jimmy Sunlao
and Rico Meneses.
“We had
a very good discussion,” said Eala. “Principally, we
asked coach Chot to assess the team and to more or less
present to the committee his plans for the next two
months.”
Reyes,
said Eala, was able to “defend his position” on the
Belgrade trip well, a journey that would be two-fold: a
competition against tough European opponents and a
strength and conditioning session, both areas of concern
the management wished to address.
Gabe
Norwood, the six-foot-six point guard from George Mason
University, and Sta. Lucia Realty import Kelly Williams
are likely to join the Belgrade voyage, subject to
separate requirements.
Norwood,
who also plays the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, will have to
secure the necessary travel documents, including a
Philippine passport, while Williams needs to get the
approval of the Realtors management ahead of the trip.
Rico
Villanueva, traded by Red Bull to San Miguel Beer for
Romel Adducul, will be staying behind, and so will Tony
de la Cruz of Alaska, should Williams get the go signal.
De la
Cruz sprained his right ankle during the Fiba-Asia
Champions Cup in Tehran and needs to give the injury
more time to heal. He could find himself joining the
Nationals to Belgrade and Taiwan, however, if Williams
fails to make it.
Willie
Miller,
Alaska’s ace playmaker, won’t be joining the RP team either because
his ball club remains in bitter contention for an
outright semifinal berth in the PBA Fiesta Cup.
Eala
clarified those dropped from the team are not
necessarily out of the squad for Tokushima.
“It will
all depend on the performance of Norwood and Williams in
Belgrade,” he said.
As for
the composition of the coaching staff, Reyes emphasized
in the meeting that former national coaches Jong Uichico
and Tim Cone, as well as Coca-Cola mentor Binky Favis,
remain “an integral” part of the team.
All
three will be in
Tokushima, while one of them will join the Jones Cup squad.
In the
Manila Invitational, Lebanon and Iran have expressed
interest in coming over, although organizers prefer that
at least Syria, which was also invited, would confirm
its participation.
“The
committee expressed continued confidence and full
support for the RP team,” said Eala. “There’s lot of
work to be done but we’re very optimistic that we’ll be
ready for battle come Japan. At least we know that we
have equipped this team as much as we can.” |
