Friday, June 01, 2007 RP SMC to compete in Taiwan’s Jones Cup
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 office, but a proposed five-team Manila Invitational which would include China got the green light.
The Belgrade battle is set June 12-20, while the Jones Cup, taking the place of the Qatar Invitational (June 22-28), is on July 2-10.
China has confirmed participation to 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 in Japan.
In the meeting, which lasted more than three hours, were PBA chairman Ricky Vargas, Commissioner Noli Eala, Vice 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.”
Position
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 6-6 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 Realtors management ahead of the trip.
Rico Villanueva, traded by Red Bull to San Miguel Beer for Rommel Adducul, will be staying behind, and so with Tony dela Cruz of Alaska, should Williams get the go signal.
Dela Cruz sprained his right ankle during the Fiba-Asia Champions Cup 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 since his ball club remains in bitter contention for an outright semifinal berth in the PBA Fiesta Cup.
Eala made it clear those dropped from the team are not necessarily out of the squad going to Tokushima.
Performance
“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.” (PBA Media Bureau)
