The kids are all right

Alas & co vs South East Asia
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

With the mainstream collegiate basketball season almost at its end, the focus now shifts on the coming 27th South East Asian Games (December 11 to 22, to be held in Myanmar) where the Philippines is favored to dominate the sport anew.

Already announced to call the shots is Meralco Bolts assistant coach Jong Uichico (who, at this point in his career, is really over-qualified for the job but hey) to be aided by Far Eastern University’s brain thrust Nash Racela and Josh Reyes. Naturalized center Marcus Douthit will also suit up which pretty much guaran-damn-tees us to be one of the medal favorites.


On the pool are SMART Gilas Pilipinas holdovers/reserves Jake Pascual, Ronald Pascual, Garvo Lanete, Kevin Louie Alas, RR Garcia and Matt Ganuelas while invited to camp are UAAP MVP Terrence Bill Romeo, Kiefer Ravena, Chris Newsome, Mark Belo, Roi Sumang, Arnold Van Opstal, Prince Caperal, Kevin Ferrer and Jericho Cruz. Also on the bubble are 2x UAAP MVP Ray Ray Parks, ABL star Chris Banchero and Raymund Almazan.

One look at the roster and you have arguably some of the best young talent available with maybe a Teng or Buenafe missing. We’d ask for guys like Greg Slaughter and Ian Sanggalang, but by the time the SEA Games come along those two, at the moment, are the consensus 1st and 2nd overall picks so we can’t call them out for not throwing their hats in there right away (we’re talking SEA Games here, plus we have Douthit on board).

And because we were graciously and generously given a 19-man pool by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, here’s our list of who should make the final cut (12-man roster):

PG Garcia/ Alas/ Ravena
You can’t play Dribble Drive without able guards now can you? Fortunately, the Philippines is to Asia as San Beda High School is to the local basketball scene: a breeding ground for high-caliber small men. Garcia gets the starting nod owing to his experience, court vision and shooting. Alas is the token sparkplug scorer off the bench. Ravena is a combo guard who can just as easily supplant Garcia (think Jimmy Alapag-Jayson Castro-L.A. Tenorio). If Banchero is available, everyone moves down a notch.

SG Lanete/ Romeo/ Newsome
Again, another Gilas cadet should get the starting position if only for continuity and fluidity system-wise. Romeo’s bound to crash the score box anyway regardless of who is in front of him or which quarter he plays.

SF Parks/ Ferrer/ Pascual
If Parks doesn’t play up to par and “coasts” his way early like he did this UAAP season, then his minutes can go to Newsome or his newfound rival Ferrer. Ron Pascual is the token wing enforcer/ scorer who doesn’t need to play heavy minutes. Still, a formidable small forward rotation with the only flaw being you can’t play them all together.

PF Van Opstal/ Pascual 
We’d love to see how far AVO’s career goes as a basketball player. He started off pretty raw but is now looking like a legit post man who’s been doing this for a long time (thank you Jun Limpot). Playing beside a legit presence in Douthit will allow the four-man to play the weak side, grab rebounds and help on defense. Can’t go wrong with any of the candidates here (Almazan too if he accepts)

C Douthit
In Douthit we trust.

What do you think are our chances in the coming SEA Games versus Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore?