SMART GILAS FLYING HIGH; JAPETH CASE JUSTIFIED

For the meantime, let’s take a quick timeout from the NBA world.

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The scheduled charity game for typhoon “Ondoy” victims last night at the Araneta Coliseum has all the makings of a PBA Powerade Team Pilipinas carnage of the inexperience and youthful Smart Gilas National Developmental squad. Everything seems to be well-planned and orchestrated by the PBA itself to ensure a victory by their highly-paid stars and likewise to justify all the statements made by Powerade coach Yeng Guiao that the pro league is still the best choice for National cage program and not a bunch of no-names. These are as follows:

1. The game will be played according to PBA rules;
2. The assigned game officials are PBA referees;
3. The game will be played at the PBA homecourt, the big dome; and
4. The game will be played before thousands of PBA fans.

In short, there are a lot in stake and it’s more than just a charity game. Guiao also wants to prove that there is no need to tap the services of a foreign mentor for the National developmental program as he was against the Samahang Basketbolista ng Pilipinas (SBP) hiring of the so-called “miracle worker” Rajko Toroman of Serbia from the very beginning.

But the SBP and Toroman opted to keep silent and just let the issue be settled once and for all in the basketball floor. And the result is a 98-69 resounding victory by Smart Gilas. Toroman, who set the tone for Iran’s ascension as Asian champions, clearly had the last laugh. The game proved two things, Toroman’s no-nonsense system and Guiao’s poor selection of National players. After last night’s game the likes of CJ Giles, Japeth Aguilar, Andy Barroca, JV Casio, Mac Baracael, Dylan Ababou, Jason Ballesteros and Chris Tiu had become overnight household names.

We wish the best for SBP on their three-year Smart Gilas program and we also hope and pray that coach Toroman will be able to qualify the country into the 2012 London Olympics via the 2011 FIBA Asia qualifiers. For the PBA, well, the most logical thing to do right now is disband immediately the Powerade Team Pilipinas and leave the National cage program solely at the hands of SBP.

And lastly to coach Yeng, just keep your big mouth shut. Enough said.