Short-handed Powerade-RP to play 'underdog' vs Smart Gilas
Short-handed by the absence of nearly half of his mainstays in the Powerade-Pilipinas men’s basketball team, coach Yeng Guiao might be forced to tap some of the active players who suited up for his PBA All-Stars in their recent exhibition game against the NBA Generations.
Guiao will handle the Powerade-RP in yet another interesting exhibition game, the "Pinoy Basketbol, Kakampi Nyo," a fund-raising game for the benefit of the victims of tropical storm "Ondoy," and he might need reinforcements in Rain or Shine’s Jay-R Reyes, Ginebra’s Enrico Villanueva, Sta. Lucia’s Joseph Yeo and Burger King’s Wynne Arboleda.
The four players, who played for the PBA All-Stars against the NBA Generations of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Dominique Wilkins, might be recalled by Guiao to beef up the Powerade-Pilipinas team when it squares off with the Rajko Toroman-mentored Smart Gilas team on Monday at the Araneta Coliseum.
“Mga anim yata ng members namin sa Powerade-RP yung wala eh," Guiao said. “After noong stint namin sa Tianjin (China, site of the FIBA Asia men’s championship), halos hindi na kami nagkita-kita ulit."
Those who will most likely miss the Powerade-Pilipinas’ game against Smart Gilas are Jared Dillinger and Ranidel de Ocampo of Talk 'N Text and Mick Pennisi of San Miguel Beer.
Sta. Lucia’s Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes, who were cut off from the Powerade-Pilipinas team due to injuries prior to the FIBA Asia stint, might not be ready to play yet while controversial top overall PBA rookie pick Japeth Aguilar will suit up instead for the Smart Gilas five.
The manpower problem as well as his squad’s lack of familiarity with one another will certainly make Guiao’s squad the unlikely “underdog" against the Smart Gilas squad, which has done nothing but train continuously to get themselves ready for international competitions.
Definitely, they (Smart Gilas) have the advantage in terms of cohesion as they’ve been practicing together for so long, unlike us. But we certainly have the talent to match them up.
– Yeng Guiao, Powerade-RP coach
“We played Smart Gilas before," said Guiao referring to Burger King’s game against the squad in an exhibition match several months ago.
“The team is composed of the country’s cream of the crop amateur players so definitely malakas rin talaga ito. Add to the fact that their import might suit up and Japeth would most likely play there. This should give us an added motivation (to play them hard) even though it’s a charity game."
As such, he felt his team yields the advantage in team chemistry.
“Definitely, they (Smart Gilas) have the advantage in terms of cohesion as they’ve been practicing together for so long, unlike us. But we certainly have the talent to match them up," he said.
Guiao said he will set a one-day practice either Saturday or Sunday to prepare his squad against Smart Gilas, now bolstered by the presence of 6’9 Aguilar and 6’11 former Los Angeles Lakers center CJ Giles.
Aguilar, who was picked the top overall choice of Guiao’s Burger King in the rookie draft, has expressed interest to play for Smart Gilas. Although he was a member of Powerade-Pilipinas squad in the FIBA Asia Championship in Tianjin and William Jones Cup in Taipei, the young cager opted to stay with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas-backed Gilas squad.
The issue surrounding Aguilar has taken a backseat for a noble cause.
In a rare opportunity, the different stakeholders of basketball bonded together and decided to play a charity game to join aid efforts for victims of “Ondoy" which went down as the strongest in terms of accumulated rain showers since 1951 and claimed over 200 lives and caused billions of damages throughout the country.
Stakeholders of Philippine basketball lock arms in unity during Wednesday's press launch of a charity game dubbed 'Pinoy Basketball: Kakampi n'yo' at the Araneta Coliseum on Oct. 5. The charity game is for the benefit of the victims of typhoon Ondoy. - Jeff Venancio
Philippine Basketball League chairman and Harbour Centre’s top honcho Mikee Romero has pledged a seed money of P500,000 for the one-day event.
A selection of players from the country’s premier collegiate leagues – the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines and the National Collegiate Athletic Association – will go up against the top cagers from the PBL and Liga Pilipinas in the curtain raiser at 5 p.m. followed by the main game between the all-pro Powerade-Pilipinas team versus the amateur-laden Smart Gilas squad.
Winners in the double header will get P100,000 while the losing team will receive P50,000.
The main game’s winner will also receive the Tony Chua trophy, an award named in honor of the former PBA chairman who was among those who perished in the wake of the storm's devastation. - GMANews.TV
