Ace(s) up Gilas' sleeve

Taking his talents to Gilas

Sonny Thoss, Mac Baracael, L.A. Tenorio of the PBA’s Alaska Aces have been cleared by all concerned parties to backstop the SEABA Philippine contingent bannered by amateur stars Aldrech Ramos, Dave Marcelo, Garvo Lanete, Woody Co, Chris Tiu, Eman Monfort and Borgie Hermida and naturalized center Marcus Douthit.

While we remain to be the team to beat in the South East Asian regions, it’s always a plus to have guys who are on an elite level to represent the country. The presence of Douthit alone makes the Philippines a sure-fire medal contender, since the man has already made a name for himself on the FIBA-Asia stage as one of the better centers around.

Should PHL Coach Jong Uichico play the pros heavy minutes?

No.

Unless Indonesia and Malaysia are able to naturalize all their American and Filipino imports from the ASEAN Basketball League in time for the games, then we should let the young guys play. What’s important, big picture-wise is that Tenorio, Baracael and Thoss are exposed to international meets and practice the SMART Gilas system preached by Uichico and overall by FIBA-selection Coach Chot Reyes.

Tenorio is coming off a gruesome season wherein he played through injuries and carried the full brunt of the offensive burden for the Aces. Monfort and Chris Tiu are solid enough to control the games for us and can shoot from deep to keep defenses from clogging the paint and concentrating solely on Douthit. Thoss is a tireless workhorse but should step aside and serve as mentor for promising big Marcelo.

That leaves us with Baracael, the only true small forward of the bunch (if you put Lanete at the 2-spot). This guy enjoyed little to no minutes for the Aces in his rookie campaign. While he doesn’t have the basketball IQ of fellow SMART Gilas alum and current Ginebra darling Dylan Ababou, he makes up for with tenacity and drive.

Ramos is a nice prospect, but he’s too skinny to play power forward, and too lanky-slow to be asked to play small forward. He has a feathery jumper yes, but so does James Jones yet you don’t see him starting over LeBron James now right?

All in all, it was a smart move by the SMART Gilas brass to throw in the three guys who made the FIBA roster but aren’t all too familiar with their offensive and defensive plays. The extra time in assures us all that these guys are in for the long run and are committed to the National cause.

Shame that Chris Ellis and Cliff Hodge were taken off the list because of eligibility concerns, not that they’re not Filipinos outright, but more of a safety to avoid any future Marcio Lassiter-Chris Lutz sitdown scenarios from a few years back.

Which means, those two guys are going to be your Top 2 picks in the PBA Draft. The Lina franchises must be giddy.