Live on Five: TV5 airs Gilas tuneup matches against PBA stars, Kazakhstan national team InterAKTV · Sunday, July 21, 2013 · 1:05 pm Sports5/Paul Mata After a successful training trip in New Zealand, the Philippine national men’s basketball team will wrap up its buildup for the FIBA Asia Championship with two games that will serve as a showcase for Filipino basketball fans. Gilas Pilipinas takes on a selection of PBA stars on July 24 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena before battling the Kazakhstan national team on July 26 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum. Both games will be broadcast live over TV5 at 8:30 p.m. Calvin Abueva of Alaska and Arwind Santos of Petorn will lead the way for the PBA selection coached by Franz Pumaren. Rounding out the lineup will be Chris Tiu and Paul Lee of Rain or Shine, Peter June Simon, Mark Barroca, and Joe Devance of San Mig Coffee, Cyrus Baguio and JVee Casio of Alaska, KG Canaleta of Air 21, Jay Washington of GlobalPort, Alex Cabagnot of Petron, and Chris Ellis of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. “Our objective is to serve as the sparring partner of Gilas Pilipinas,” Pumaren told InterAKTV earlier this month. Kazakhstan, meanwhile, will serve as Gilas’ first look at FIBA Asia competition. The Central Asian nation, which is bracketed in Group D along with India, Bahrain, and Thailand, will be led by naturalized point guard Jerry Johnson and big man Anton Ponomaryov. Italian coach Matteo Boniciolli will be calling the shots for the Kazakhs, who have been identified as a dark horse in the Asian championship. “If this coach will put the discipline which this team lacked in previous years, it will not be easy for the Philippines. They’re very physical and very skilled, but they lacked the discipline,” former national coach Rajko Toroman told InterAKTV in an earlier interview. Gilas is composed of Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro, Larry Fonacier, and Ranidel De Ocampo of Talk ‘N Text; Jeff Chan and Gabe Norwood of Rain or Shine; Japeth Aguilar and LA Tenorio of Ginebra; Gary David of GlobalPort; June Mar Fajardo of Petron; Marc Pingris of San Mig Coffee; and naturalized center Marcus Douthit. The team is coached by Chot Reyes.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 12:05:22 +0000
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