THE SMART-GILAS Pilipinas will try to ride the momentum of their stirring championship win in the Jones Cup last month when they start their campaign in the Fiba Asia Cup with a match against powerhouse China today in Tokyo, Japan.
The team has been kept intact save for one change in replacing bullstrong guard Sol Mercado with Jared Dillinger.
The rest of the usual suspects are back led by Jones Cup tournament MVP LA Tenorio, naturalized player Marcus Douthit, Gary David, Gabe Norwood, Ranidel de Ocampo, Jeff Chan, Larry Fonacier, Jay-R Reyes, Garvo Lanete and Enrico Villanueva.
After China, the Gilas face off against Lebanon on Saturday followed by a match against Uzbekistan on Sunday and Macau on Monday.
This tournament is being utilized by the Gilas to hone the team further as it aims to qualify for the Fiba World Cup in 2014 during the FIBA Asia Championship next year, where three slots are at stake. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio