source: Joaquin Henson | philstar.com
Smart-Gilas national cagers Chris Tiu and Dylan Ababou said the other day they’re ready to sacrifice whatever it takes to bring back the lost glory of Philippine basketball in Asia with a ticket to the London Olympics a bonus if the team gets the job done.
Tiu, 25, and Ababou, 23, are in Serbian coach Rajko Toroman’s 12-man lineup for the Asian Games in Guangzhou on Nov. 12-27. Aside from Tiu and Ababou, named to the squad were J. V. Casio, Marcio Lassiter, Asi Taulava, Kelly Williams, Aldrech Ramos, Greg Slaughter, Jason Ballesteros, Mark Barroca, Japeth Aguilar and Mac Baracael. The roster will be adjusted to make room for Fil-Ams Chris Lutz and Sol Mercado with Marcus Douthit a possible addition if he is able to obtain his Philippine citizenship on time.
“It’s every player’s dream to play for flag and country,” said Tiu, speaking before nearly 300 student writers from 30 schools all over the nation at the UST Varsitarian’s national campus journalism conference. “In the past, the best players from the PBA represented our country. I used to watch PBA stars like James Yap, Willie Miller and Asi play on the national team. It’s a great honor to be chosen to step into their shoes. We’ve got a winning formula with coach Rajko teaching us the European style of play and the SBP giving us the international experience to toughen our game in a three-year development program.” (more…)
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