Smart Gilas

Smart Gilas Pilipinas^[1] is a developmental Philippine national basketball team sponsored by Smart Communications and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP). The team is bannered by collegiate and amateur standouts whose ultimate goal is to reach the 2012 London Olympics.

Training

The Smart Gilas team has been rigorously training under the European style of play under coach Rajko Toroman. During the 2009 preparation, the team played exhibition games against local PBA teams.^[2] where game results were invariably close. After sampling local competition, the team flew to the United States and held a training camp in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[3] The young team also played scrimmage games and managed to pull off surprise wins against the more favored American Basketball Association’s Las Vegas Aces.

Smart Gilas finished 3rd^[4] in the 21st Dubai International Basketball Tournament behind Al-Riyadi Beirut of Lebanon (runner-up), and Mahram Tehran BC of Iran (champion). The tournament was held in Dubai, UAE on January 14–23, 2010. Smart Gilas co-captain J. V. Casio was named best guard of the tournament after impressing the organizers with his consistency.

Stunning the World Championship-bound Jordan national basketball team, the Smart Gilas team emerged the inaugural champions in the 2010 Smart Philippine Invitational Challenge, also known as MVP Cup^[5] at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium from June 24–27, 2010.

The Philippines (represented by Smart Gilas Team) finished 4th overall in the 32nd edition of the 2010 R. William Jones Cup, with a 3–3 win-loss card.^[6] The tournament took place in Taipei, Chinese Taipei from 14 to 20 July 2010.

Smart Gilas (the Philippines representative as a qualified team from the Southeast Asian region) finished 4th overall in the FIBA Asia Stanković Cup 2010,^[7] which made them qualified for the 26th FIBA Asia Championship in 2011, which in turn will be the qualifying event for 2012 London Olympics. The 3rd FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup 2010 was held in Beirut, Lebanon from 7 to 15 August 2010, in Ghazir Club Court, participated by 10 Asian national teams.

The Smart Gilas team went home with a silver medal after losing to the KBL's (Korean Basketball League) import reinforced Seoul Samsung Thunders by a point, 83–82, in the 4th ABA (Asian Basketball Association) Club Championship 2010 in Haining, China from September 14–19, 2010.^[8]

Reinforcements

Candidates for naturalization

The team had tapped the services of former National Basketball Association center-power forward Jamal Sampson to bring much-needed depth in the middle. After the team's stint in the Dubai Club Championship, however, the SBP decided to part ways with Sampson. The team had initially considered naturalizing former Los Angeles Lakers center C. J. Giles.^[9] However, Giles was removed from the team due to disciplinary concerns.^[10]

On February 5, 2010, Smart Gilas conducted a try-out for a new prospect for naturalization. A prospect, Dwayne Jones out of Saint Joseph's University and at the time playing for Austin Toros, was set to sign a contract with the team, but instead got signed by the Phoenix Suns. Suiting up for Smart Gilas in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2010 was Milan Vucicevic from Serbia, who was subsequently dropped from the national team.

Marcus Douthit, who was also a former second- round draft pick of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004, tried out in June 2010. Douthit impressed Toroman during the four-day MVP Manila Invitational Tournament in Ninoy Aquino Stadium where Gilas won three of their four games. Douthit scored 26 points during the first game against a CBA team, 18 points in their defeat against the Jordan national basketball team, and 10 points in a Smart Gilas win over Jordan. The Smart Gilas management have decided to offer a one-year contract to Douthit and work on his naturalization papers. Douthit officially became a naturalized Filipino citizen on March 16, 2011.

Filipino players abroad

In the summer of 2009, other U.S. and Canada-based players also scrimmaged with the team in Las Vegas. They included 6'11" center Gian Chiu of Oberlin, 6'3" guard Chris Lutz of Marshall, 6'3" guard Marcio Lassiter of Cal State-Fullerton and 6'6" forward Sean Anthony of McGill. Penn State point guard Stanley Pringle was supposed to join the scrimmages, but signed a contract to play in Belgium instead.

To date, only Lassiter, who used up his eligibility in 2009, and Lutz, who graduated from Marshall in 2010, are seeing active duty with the team. After going back to McGill to pursue his studies, Anthony was drafted by the Powerade Tigers as their 6th pick. Chiu was removed from Oberlin's regular-season lineup after incurring a foot injury early last year. He is currently going through rehabilitation.

Later in 2010, guard Chris Banchero of Seattle Pacific University was added to the pool after the team's training in Las Vegas, but is still unsure of securing a spot in the team for the Asian Games and the 2010 FIBA Asia Champions Cup due to NCAA eligibility issues. Small forward Christian Standhardinger of Nebraska, who formerly played for the Germany under-18 men's national basketball team is under consideration.

Philippine Basketball Association players

The team has tapped the services of Philippine Basketball Association's Fil-Tongan Center Asi Taulava of the Coca-Cola Tigers for their 3rd FIBA Asia Stanković Cup 2010 stint.

The Sta. Lucia Realtors traded the rights of Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes to the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters. Williams and Reyes are both to be assigned to Smart Gilas on loan for the Asian Games on November 2010.^[11]

Current squad

Depth Chart

Tournament results

• Tournaments marked with an asterisk (*) denotes that the team competed as the Philippine national team.

FIBA tournaments

Other tournaments

External links

• Smart Gilas Latest News and Updates
• Smart Gilas Pilipinas Latest News
• Smart Gilas Roster
• Team Pilipinas News Update Site
• Philippine Olympic Committee Website
• Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas
• Smart Gilas Pilipinas Photos

References