Gilas faces Malaysia in SEABA opener

MANILA, Philippines – Malaysia, the 2015 SEABA Championship runner-up whose core players also formed part of the 2016 ABL champion team, the Westsports Malaysia Dragons, is first up for the Gilas cadet team in the 2016 SEABA Stankovic Cup in Bangkok today.

Game time is at 5:30 p.m. with the Gilas cadets vowing not to take the Malaysians for granted, knowing they’re a growing threat along with host Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.

Gilas Pilipinas coach Tab Baldwin himself is tempering expectations, mentioning the absence of Filipino star amateurs like Kiefer Ravena and Bobby Ray Parks.

Even with naturalized player Marcus Douthit in harness in the SEA Games in Singapore last year, Baldwin and his team got a big scare versus Thailand (80-75) in the semifinals and versus Indonesia (72-64) in the finale.

Only Troy Rosario, Kevin Ferrer, Almond Vosotros, Jiovani Jalalon and Mark Belo are the holdovers from the triumphant SEA Games team.

Rosario erupted for 27 points and 12 rebounds versus the Thais in the semis then Belo sizzled with 22 markers versus the Indons in the gold-medal game.

Indonesia beat out Malaysia, 67-59, in their group play duel in the SEAG – thus the Malaysians failed to make the medal-round games. But the Malaysians had a strong second-place performance in the earlier SEABA tourney, allowing them to compete in the last FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha, China.

Team Malaysia has been together for a longtime now, a real threat if taken for granted.

But Baldwin said coach Nash Racela knows the kind of competition they’re facing in Bangkok.

“I think that last year’s scare at the SEA Games should have lit a fire under us,” said Baldwin.

After Malaysia, Team Phl next plays Singapore Tuesday, Indonesia on Wednesday then Thailand Friday.

The other Gilas cadets at Racela’s disposal are Roger Pogoy, Russel Escoto, Ken Holmqvist, Raymar Jose, Chris Tolomia, Von Pessumal and Jonas Raphael Tibayan.