Smart Gilas yields to heftier Serbians

Source: businessmirror.com.ph
Smart Gilas dropped its opening assignment in its six-game exhibition series against club teams in Belgrade.

The young Philippine team lost to the bigger and heftier players of Metalac Valjevo, 86-76, on Tuesday at the Hala Sportoba, Valjevo in Belgrade.

“Ang lalaki talaga nila at malakas pa ang kanilang three-point shooting,” said Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Noli Eala. “It’s a taller and heftier Metalac team we played right now.”

The 10-point margin is a bit closer, which could be considered an improvement for Smart Gilas, which lost to the same team last year, 61-92. Metalac Valjevo is a Division 1 professional team in Serbia.

“We had a great fourth quarter. It was a great start for the team and I hope we’ll do better tomorrow,” said Eala.

Smart Gilas trailed early in the first quarter, 14-22, and 64-48 entering the fourth quarter.

The Nationals, who are playing without a foreign reinforcement, gave the host team a tough time in the final period where they outscored the Serbians, 28-22.

“Their size and experience spelled the difference,” said skipper Chris Tiu via Twitter. “They were very disciplined and executed well.”

Tiu added that Metalac Valjevo boasts a pair of seven-foot centers and has an average height of six feet and seven inches. The Philippine squad’s tallest player is six-foot-11 Greg Slaughter.

Marcio Lassiter poured all of his 17 points in the second half to lead the squad coached by Rajko Toroman, a native of Serbia.

The team will play five more games in Belgrade before flying to Vancouver, Canada, for a pair of exhibition games.

Smart Gilas is using this tournament in preparation for the International Basketball Federation (Fiba)-Asia Champions Cup in Doha, Qatar, in May and the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, in November.

Meanwhile, Smart Gilas team manager Frankie Lim said the team is close to sealing a deal with Dwayne Jones after speaking to the player’s agent Dave Gasman. The team is expecting to sign a foreign player who could be naturalized in time for the qualifying events for the 2012 London Olympics.

“We spoke to his agent last Tuesday and looks like he’ll accept it,” said Lim. “I’m just waiting for them to return the contract to me and that would be in a couple of days.”

The 26-year-old Jones, who played with Boston Celtics, Charlotte Bobcats and Cleveland Cavaliers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), just finished his commitment with the Austin Toros in the NBA Developmental League.

The six-foot-11 Jones, a standout of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I school Saint Joseph University, is expected to play his first game with Smart Gilas in the Fiba-Asia Champions Cup this May.

Jones is expected to play for the team from May to November this year and from May to August next year, in time for the 2011 Fiba-Asia Championship, the qualifier for the 2011 London Olympics.