National coach Chot Reyes, the chief architect, after fiddling with the designs and the structural requirements, bared the official lineup of the Philippine team that would wage war in the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup which fires off Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.
Named to the roster are Jimmy Alapag, Willie Miller and Yancy de Ocampo of Talk ’N Text, Renren Ritualo of FedEx, Dondon Hontiveros and Nic Belasco of San Miguel, Tony dela Cruz of Shell, Kerby Raymundo of Purefoods, Mark Caguioa and Romel Adducul of Ginebra, Rafi Reavies of Coca-Cola, and Sonny Thoss of Alaska.
Though by no means the actual contingent that would plunge into action in the FIBA-Asia Men’s Championship in Doja, Qatar in September, the nucleus of that invading force could be in this platoon.
Excluded from the team because of injuries are Danny Seigle of SMB, Brandon Cablay of Alaska and Jayjay Helterbrand of Ginebra.
Mike Cortez, the Aces point guard, was left out to give his recent back injury more time to heal, while Ginebra’s Eric Menk remained ineligible pending complete submission of his citizenship papers. Red Bull Barako’s Rico Villanueva, tied up with the Thunder’s campaign in the PBA Fiesta Conference, also missed the bus.
"It’s a very balanced lineup, very athletic, very quick," said Reyes, who got the green light from PBA Commissioner Noli Eala to make the announcement late in the afternoon.
"The team has the ability to run and pressure on defense."
The Philippines is bracketed with Kazakhstan, India, Iran and defending champion Lebanon, while in the other group are Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait and Syria.
South Korea begged off at the last minute.
The initial format calls for a one-round robin elimination with the top two teams from each group playing a cross-over semifinal with the winners disputing the title.
"Ang lakas ng bracket natin. Yung Iran lang, they will be coming with their national team including at least one 7-3 player," said Reyes. "But what’s beautiful is we’ll have four tough games immediately. It will give us an opportunity to take a closer look at the players we really want."
Reyes said that while winning the tournament would be a morale-booster as the team prepares for the FIBA-Asia Men’s Championship, the experience would be just as rewarding.
"Obviously we want to win," he said, "but not at the expense of improving and developing the team. We want to see how well we’ll play without Menk and Seigle."
Joining Reyes on the bench are former Asian Games coach Jong Uichico of San Miguel, and fellow assistants Binky Favis of Ginebra and Aboy Castro of Coke.
The Champions Cup tourney is the first of three commitments this year forged in a Memorandum of Agreement between the PBA and the Basketball Association of the Philippines early this year. The two others are the William Jones Cup in Taiwan in late July and the Asian Championship two months later.
Philippine passport concerns regarding Alapag, Dela Cruz, Belasco and Thoss, Reyes said, should be settled within the next few days.
"They are pretty confident that they can get their passports before the team managers meeting on Saturday," Reyes said.
The Philippine team hopes to use the Champions Cup as a springboard for the bigger Las Vegas Summer League July 15-21 and the Jones Cup July 23-30.
