Gold or nothing for Asi

MANILA, Philippines - Asi Taulava said yesterday he’s not entertaining the notion of Gilas finishing second, third or fourth at the FIBA Asia Championships in Changsha on Sept. 23-Oct. 3 to play in the Olympic qualifying tournament in July next year because his focus is strictly to win the title and book an automatic ticket to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games.

Only the Changsha champion will advance to the Rio Olympics to represent Asia. The three other semifinalists will battle 15 other national teams for three “wildcard” slots in Rio via three Olympic qualifying tournaments on July 5-10.

So far, six countries are assured of berths in Rio – host Brazil, the reigning World Cup champion US, Australia from Oceania, Nigeria from Africa and Venezuela and Argentina from the Americas. Australia beat New Zealand, 71-59 in Melbourne and 89-79 in Wellington to clinch the Rio slot in a home-and-away series for the FIBA Oceania crown last Aug. 15-18. Nigeria defeated Angola, 74-65, to top the FIBA Africa Championships in Tunisia last Aug. 19-30. Venezuela upset Argentina, 76-71, in the final of the FIBA Americas Championships in Mexico last Aug. 31-Sept. 12.

The top two finishers in the ongoing FIBA Europe Championships will also advance to Rio. The Asian champion will join the cast from Changsha. The remaining three slots will be awarded to the winners of the three Olympic qualifying tournaments.

Taulava, 42, played on the Philippine team that took fourth place at the FIBA Asia Championships in Wuhan under Serbian coach Rajko Toroman. His teammates were Mark Barroca, Jvee Casio, Jimmy Alapag, Chris Tiu, Japeth Aguilar, Mac Baracael, Kelly Williams, Marcio Lassiter, Chris Lutz, Ranidel de Ocampo and naturalized player Marcus Douthit.

In 2011, the Philippines crushed the United Arab Emirates, 92-52, lost to China, 75-60, and trounced Bahrain, 113-71 in the first round then disposed of Jordan, 72-64, defeated Japan, 83-76 and walloped Syria, 75-52 in the second round. In the quarterfinals, Gilas ousted Chinese-Taipei, 95-78. Jordan, coached by Tab Baldwin, got back at the Philippines in the semifinals, 75-61. Gilas settled for fourth place after bowing to South Korea, 70-68, in the playoff for third.

This year, only Taulava and De Ocampo remain on the Gilas lineup from four years ago. They are joined by Calvin Abueva, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Dondon Hontiveros, J. C. Intal, Gabe Norwood, Marc Pingris, Terrence Romeo, Sonny Thoss, Jayson Castro and naturalized player Andray Blatche.

“To be truthful, the way we train and prepare (for Changsha), it’s gold or nothing,” said Taulava. “We want to make all our kababayan around the world proud.”

Taulava said there’s a big difference in the character make-up of this team from the 2011 squad. “The difference between this batch from the 2011 batch is we all showed up together when we got the call from coach Tab to serve,” he said. “You can see how dedicated everyone has been from the first day of practice until now. We are no longer a team, we are a family. All in! Puso!”

Taulava wasn’t on the Gilas team that took second place at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships in Manila and qualified for the FIBA World Cup in Spain last year. As senior statesman, he is one of seven Gilas players who are at least 30. The others are Hontiveros, 38, Thoss, 33, Pingris, 33, De Ocampo, 33, Intal, 31 and Norwood, 30.

In Changsha, the Philippines is bracketed in Group B with Palestine, Kuwait and Hong Kong. Making up Group A are Iran, Japan, Malaysia and India. Group C is composed of South Korea, Jordan, Singapore and China while Chinese-Taipei, Lebanon, Qatar and Kazakhstan comprise Group D.

The top three finishers of each group will advance to the second round. The Philippines should top its bracket. Palestine is likely to be the toughest opponent in the preliminaries with legendary High Point University basketball coach Jerry Steele at the helm and former PBA import Omar Krayem in the backcourt.

In the second round, the Philippines will play the top three from Group A which should be Iran, Japan and India. If Gilas finishes No. 2 behind Iran after two rounds, it will face No. 3 from Groups C and D, possibly China, Jordan, Qatar or Chinese-Taipei if South Korea and Lebanon are 1-2. That will be a knockout game. If the Philippines survives, it will move on to the semifinals. Another win will bring Gilas to the final.