Before Kuya Marcus Douthit and Andray Blatche, seven other prospects had been considered for naturalization by the Smart Gilas program. They are Jamal Sampson, C.J. Guiles, Dwayne Jones, Milan Vucicevic, Brian Butch, Greg Stiemsma, and Courtney Sims. Most of them had been signed by an NBA team before the naturalization process started and some of them had been dropped out of the pool.

FIBA 3x3 World Tour Manila

Four Philippine teams are competing in the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Manila leg. Two of those teams are comprised of professional players from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) while the other two teams are a collection of amateur standouts. You can watch all the games free via live stream below:

 

Manila East
Ousseynou Karbala Gueye
Daryl Henderson Jr.
John Adrian Wong
Jerie Marlon Pingoy

Manila North
Ian Paul Sangalang
Elvin Jake Pascual
Calvin Abueva
Vic Manuel

Manila South
Joshua Irvin Ayo
Adonis Christian Nismal
Karl Kenneth Estrada
Raphael Jude De Vera

Manila West (Eventual Champions; Beat Qatar in the Finals)
Rommel Niño Canaleta
John Aldrech Ramos
Terrence Bill Romeo
Rey Francis Guevarra

Mr. Smooth posterizes one of Iran's giants

We may have lost in the semifinals against Iran (again) but I'm sure Ranidel de Ocampo's nasty in-your-face dunk against one of Iran's giants (yeah, they're a team of giants) is enough to bring smiles to everyone who witnessed it. In case you weren't able to see it for whatever reason, then you can watch it now below:

Difference between FIBA Asia Cup, FIBA Asia Champions Cup, and FIBA Asia Championship

The FIBA Asia Cup, FIBA Asia Champions Cup, and FIBA Asia Championship are three of the biggest FIBA sanctioned events in Asia. But the difference between these three tournaments have constantly been disregarded. If you're a huge follower of Gilas Pilipinas, then it's important that you know what these tournaments symbolizes.

The FIBA Asia Cup which is formerly known as FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup is a tournament which takes place every 2 years. The winner of this tournament will automatically qualify for the next FIBA Asia Championship tournament. The non-winners will have to compete in their respective FIBA Asia sub zone tournaments (EABA, SEABA, SABA, WABA, GBA, CABA) to earn a spot in the FIBA Asia Championships.

The FIBA Asia Championship tournament, formerly known as ABC Championship, also takes place every 2 years. The top teams in this tournament will earn a spot in the FIBA World Cup and Olympic basketball tournament. In the 27th FIBA Asia Championship which was held in Manila last year, the Philippines, together with Iran and Korea earned their slots for this year's FIBA World Cup which will be held in Spain.

The FIBA Asia Champions Cup, unlike the FIBA Asia Cup and FIBA Asia Championships, is not a qualifier for any tournament. It is an annual event which is usually attended by champion basketball clubs in the Asian region.

2012 FIBA Asia Cup (2013 FIBA Asia Championship qualifier)
2013 FIBA Asia Championship (2014 FIBA World Cup qualifier)
2014 FIBA World Cup
2014 FIBA Asia Cup (2015 FIBA Asia Championship qualifier)
2015 FIBA Asia Championship (2016 Olympic basketball tournament qualifier)
2016 Olympic basketball tournament
2016 FIBA Asia Cup (2017 FIBA Asia Championship qualifier)
2017 FIBA Asia Championship (2018 FIBA World Cup qualifier)
2018 FIBA World Cup
And so on..

Gilas Pilipinas players posting impressive numbers in the 5th FIBA Asia Cup

Coming into the fourth day of the 5th FIBA Asia Cup, our Gilas Pilipinas players are posting great numbers in every category. El Granada is leading the tournament in 3PT%, shooting an impressive 50% clip from beyond the arc. Tenorio ranked 3rd in FT% just behind Jordan's Alhamarsheh and Singapore's Wong. Paul Lee who has been playing great for Gilas Pilipinas is averaging 14PPG and 3.5APG to place himself 4th in both category. Paul also ranked 3rd in 3PT%, shooting 44.4% from downtown. And of course our ever dependable Kuya Marcus Douthit is showing great numbers in rebound averaging 9.5RPG jst behind Iran's Hamed Haddadi and Chinese Taipei's Quincy Davis.

My Prediction for the 5th FIBA Asia Cup

With China defeating the 2013 FIBA Asia champions (Iran) in the preliminary round of group A, I think they (China) are likely to get the top spot in that group. And with Jordan suffering an unexpected defeat against Taiwan, I think the Philippines have the biggest chance of earning the top spot in group B. With all that in mind, I’m more than 80% sure this will be the seeding in groups A & B:

Preliminary Round:
Group A
A1 China
A2 Iran
A3 Japan
A4 India

Group B
B1 Philippines
B2 Chinese Taipei
B3 Jordan
B4 Singapore

In the Quarterfinals, I expect the Philippines and China to easily defeat their opponents while the battle between A2 Iran vs B3 Jordan and A3 Japan vs B2 Chinese Taipei will be a close match. Still, I expect Iran to win their game against Jordan (or will it be a de javu of when Jordan eliminated Iran in the quarterfinals in 2011?) and Japan (who sent their best lineup) to eliminate the young Taiwanese team.

Quarterfinals:
QF1: A1 China vs B4 Singapore
QF2: A2 Iran vs B3 Jordan
QF3: A3 Japan vs B2 Chinese Taipei
QF4: A4 India vs B1 Philippines

In my first prediction, I said that the finals will be a rematch between the Philippines and Iran, but with how things are going in the Preliminary Rounds, I guess the rematch would be a little earlier. I expect China to win against Japan (as much as I want Japan to take down China, I think the chance is very slim; talking about basketball, that is).

The match between the Philippines and Iran would surely be a grind, but with a healthy Kuya Marcus Douthit manning our middle, who knows! This may not be our best lineup, but I think the talent and #PUSO of our guys is enough to give any team in this competition a good match. #LabanPilipinas #PUSO!

Semifinals:
SF1: QF1 W China vs QF3 W Japan
SF2: QF2 W Iran vs QF4 W Philippines

Finals: SF1 W China vs SF2 W Philippines (hopefully)