Smart Gilas Pilipinas Won Over Jordan 72-64 in the 2nd Round of the 26th FIBA Asia Championship

The Philippines started the 2nd round on a good note, as it beat Jordan 72-64. It was nice to see Lassiter and Lutz finally having to play, there were still some controversy it was said that on Coach Chot Reyes Twitter

coachot Chot Reyes

RT @NoliEala Great news! Fiba has cleared Lassiter and Lutz to play. Letter already being transmitted to Fiba Asia and SBP. God bless Gilas.

The message was dated Sept 18. Then came a tweet just before the game that

coachot Chot Reyes

UNBELIEVABLE! This is why I'm so disillusioned about FIBA basketball. Ayaw na naman palaruin yung 2!

So I thought Lutz and Lassiter wont be playing the game, but to my surprise they did. As the first half of the game we saw the Jordan team leading the Philippines. It was a different story on the second half as Lassiter provided the spark with his timely three point bomb and Douthit flexing his muscle inside. Although there was moment on the game where Douthit went down it, I was concerned since Douthit is our only big presence down the middle.But came back a few minutes to help the team.

Philippines was led by Marcus Douthit with 19 points and Marcio Lassiter with 14 points. Jordan was led by Osama Daghles with 18 points and Rasheim Wright with 16 points.

Philippines Smart Gilas will face Team Japan tomorrow August 20, 2011.

Smart Gilas Pilipinas Won Over UAE 95-52 in the 26th FIBA Asia Championship

It was a great start for the Philippine team in the 26th FIBA Asia Championship at Wuhan Sports Centre, winning 95-52 over United Arab Emirates. Mac Barracael lead the team in scoring with 15 points. Although it was a big win for the team, what worried me is not having Lutz and Lassiter in the lineup.

Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz were ruled ineligible to play barely an hour before the tip-off of their game against the United Arab Emirates.

Talk and Text coach Chot Reyes broke the news on his Twitter account (@coachot)

"FIBA Commisioner just told me now that Lutz and Lassiter are ineligible. Only an advise from FIBA in Switzerland can make them play now," Reyes said.

Former Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas (SBP) Executive Director Noli Eala said in his twitter account (@NoliEala) that "FIBA is invoking the wrong rule, Marcio (Lassiter) and Chris (Lutz) did not acquire citizenship by naturalization. They are natural born Filipinos by virtue of a Filipino parent."

Eala, who is also part of FIBA legal committee , has already advised the SBP on what to do next to salvage Lutz and Lassiter stint in FIBA-Asia.

Their eligibility was questioned by FIBA-Asia Deputy Secretary Hagop Khajirian, who is a Lebanese.

This is sad a bad news for our team, and if i not mistaken this guy Hagop has been in our country during a certain basketball event. Are they that threatened with our team? Lassiter anf Lutz have been playing for the team on several FIBA sanctioned games already and now they filed a petition for the two? this is plain BS. I just hope the two can get cleared and play the game against China.

RP Gilas team will compete in the 2011 Commissioner's Cup

With the Leave of Absence of the Barako Bull approved, this has now allowed the entry of RP Smart Gilas national team for the second conference 2011 Commissioner's Cup.

This will be part of the Smart Gilas preparation for the 2011 FIBA-Asia championship, a qualifying tournament for the 2012 London Olympics. With their entry, it completes a 10 team league for the import laden Cup, won for the last time by Red Bull in 2005.

Smart Gilas will play by the rules of the professional league and will only have 14 man in its line up. Gilas will be led by naturalization candidate Marcus Douthit.

With the leave of absence, all players of Barako Bull will be put on a dispersal draft to allow them to play for other teams. However, they will return to their mother club if the team sees action in the Governor's Cup.

I dunno if this will be a good thing for the Smart Gilas team, I would prefer them playing some International Games than rather playing in the PBA.