Team Pilipinas off to War in Tianjin

Armed with less than a meager week’s preparation to shift focus on outside shooting and quick ball movement instead of useless one-on-one forays, Powerade-Team Pilipinas embarks on a perilous journey Tuesday for Tianjin, China to compete in the 25th FIBA Asia Men’s Championship.

The Nationals, led by coach Yeng Guiao, leaves via Philippine Air Lines for Beijing at seven in the morning. On arriving, the team will take a two-hour bus ride to Tianjin, located 170 kilometers southeast of the Mainland capital.

They debut in Group A against Sri Lanka on Thursday, Aug. 6 before taking on Japan the next day, and South Korea on Aug. 8.

Assuming the RP team finishes in the top three, it moves to the next elimination phase – a carry-over round against qualifiers from Group B, made up of defending champion Iran, Uzbekistan, Taiwan and Kuwait.

The same format applies in Groups C and D, with the top eight teams from the two brackets advancing to the knockout quarterfinals.

Four winners move up to the semifinal round, with the victors meeting in the championship.

Three berths to the FIBA World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey next year are at stake in this four-group, 16-team tournament formerly known as the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Championships.

Two years ago, the Iranians, coached by Serbian Rajko Toroman, ruled the Olympic qualifying FIBA Asia tournament in Tokushima, Japan, earning a passage to 2008 Beijing OIympics.

The Philippines, coached by Chot Reyes, finished ninth.

Despite a spate of injuries and ailments that have plagued the team, as well as the limited time to prepare and train the team, Guiao declared they are ready to do battle.

“These guys are ready to go, they know the urgency,” Guiao said after concluding practice Monday.

“For me that was the best time to see that they are ready. The players pushed themselves to practice with me not yelling or being angry at them. Basta sa sarili nila, nag-ensayo sila.”

Aside from host China, Guiao pointed to the Middle East teams – Iran, Lebanon and Jordan – as main threats to the Nationals’ goal.

After finishing sixth in the William Jones Cup tournament in Taipei, losing to Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Iran – teams they will face in the preliminaries in Tianjin, the Nationals went on a week-long reconfiguration of both their offensive patterns and defensive strategies.

A scrimmage was even set against Lebanon, which unfortunately was cancelled early in the second half due to the rain-caused slippery floor condition of the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center.

“Through this one week, we made necessary adjustments. The patterns we made and the mentality on the physical contacts of the game. They’ve adjusted to it, and it’s satisfactory given the limited time,” Guiao said, adding, “I think we’ll do well in China.”

Bannering the team is team skipper Asi Taulava backed by Jayjay Helterbrand, Mick Pennisi, Sonny Thoss, Willie Miller, Kerby Raymundo, James Yap, Arwind Santos, Gabe Norwood, Jared Dillinger, Cyrus Baguio and 2009 No. 1 Draft pick Japeth Aguilar.

Yap, whose mother-in-law, former President Cory Aquino passed away last Saturday, will join the team Thursday.