RP basketball exec in Japan for FIBA-Asia draw

The executive director of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas-Basketball Association of the Philippines (SBP-BAP), Patrick Gregorio, travelled to Tokushima, Japan, on Tuesday for the draw of the FIBA-Asia Men's Championship set for July 28 to August 5. Sixteen teams, including defending champion China, will be distributed into four groups, making up the elimination-round bracketing for the qualifying tournament to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, according to the SBP-BAP. The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals as A1-B2-C1-D2 and A2-B1-C2-D1, with the top two squads from each bracket squaring off in the crossover semifinals. If China, which is seeded to the Olympics as host country, makes it to he Tokushima final, the runnerup automatically qualifies to the Games as well. If the Chinese fails to advance, then only the champion will go to Beijing. By virtue of their placing in the last FIBA-Asia tournament in Doha, China paces Group A, Lebanon Group B, Qatar Group C, and South Korea Group D. China won 14 of the last 16 staging, with the Ron Jacobs-coached Philippine team beating the Chinese 82-72 in Kuala Lumpur in 1985 and South Korea edging Japan 78-76 in Riyadh in 1997. Chot Reyes, coach of the SMC-RP team, knows the draw would be critical but is not building up any hopes. "We're praying for the best, but realistically, with the kind of teams participating, wala ka rin pipiliin," he said. "We can end up with really strong group mates and there's very little we can do about it." The SMC-RP team, which swept the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) Men's Championship in Ratchaburi, Thailand last week, remains in deep training twice a day at Moro Lorenzo Sports Center as it awaits news on the arrival of 6-6 Fil-Am point guard Gabe Norwood for the Nationals' coming trip to Belgrade later this month. - GMANews.TV