Beau Belga of Burger King (left) drives against Kelly Williams of Sta. Lucia Realty in their KFC-PBA Philippine Cup duel Friday night at the Araneta Coliseum. The Realtors won, 101-93. (Photo by ALI VICOY)

Will the Smart-Gilas national team pull out from the PBA?

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) is seriously considering whether to keep playing in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup following the decision of the PBA board declaring that all games of the Nationals against the PBA teams are no-bearing matches.

“We are still deciding,” SBP executive director Noli Eala said in a text message Saturday.

Eala reportedly met with SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan last Friday to discuss the situation of the national team, which is using its stint in the pro league as part of its training and preparation for various international tournaments.

The team mentored by Serbian coach Rajko Toroman will compete in next year’s Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, and in the 2011 FIBA-Asia Championship, the qualifying event for the 2012 London Olympics.

Gilas dropped all its three games to Burger King (105-115), Barangay Ginebra (72-100) and defending all-Filipino champion Talk ’N Text (70-103).

The national team will next play Coca-Cola on Friday at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.

However, since it’s a no-bearing game, the result will no longer reflect on the win-loss record of the regular PBA teams.

A decision is expected this week by the SBP regarding its PBA participation.

“We posed some inquiries to the PBA to help us in coming up with our next course of action,” Eala, a former PBA commissioner, said.

The board, which is currently chaired by BK’s Lito Alvarez, actually gave PBA Commissioner Renauld “Sonny” Barrios two options.

One is for the Nationals’ games to have no-bearing on PBA teams, and the other is for Gilas not to play American import CJ Giles, a candidate for naturalization, in any of its remaining games that will have a bearing on the PBA teams.

Since the main objective of Smart Gilas participation is to help the Nationals prepare for upcoming international tournament, Barrios leaned toward rendering the games of Smart Gilas no bearing instead of barring Giles from playing.

On the other hand, Sta. Lucia Realty downed Burger King late Friday, 101-93, which improved the Realtors’ record to 3-1, while the Whoppers dropped to 2-3. Undrafted rookie Josh Urbiztondo exploded with a game-high 24 points.

Meanwhile, in observance of the All Siants' Day, the PBA took a break on Saturday in its road game presented by Phoenix Fuel, as well as its regular games this Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.

The games will resume on Wednesday at the Big Dome with league-leader Alaska (4-0) hoping to sustain its clean slate against Sta. Lucia Realty (3-1) at 7:30 p.m., right after the 5 p.m. encounter between powerhouse San Miguel Beer (2-2) and winless Rain or Shine (0-4).