Gilas begins drive for 12th straight crown vs Thailand

KUALA LUMPUR – The Gilas cadet squad, made up mostly of PBA rookies primed up for the SEA Games battle by their recent Jones Cup stint, finally kicks off its campaign here tonight, taking on Thailand and its dreaded naturalized player Tyler Lamb at the MABA Gymnasium.

The Filipinos and the Thais square off at 9:30 p.m., the closing game in a heavy seven-game bill that also features Perlas Pilipinas against Singapore in women’s action at 7:15 p.m.

The Philippines and Thailand clash in what could well be an early preview of the gold-medal match at the end of the weeklong basketball competitions on Aug. 26.

The Thais have been a consistent podium finisher in the SEA Games, having won seven silver medals and the same number of bronze in 18 SEAG basketball competitions.

They pushed the Marcus Douthit-led Gilas cadet team to the limit in their semifinal showdown in Singapore in 2015, barely losing by five at 80-75.

The Thais also competed well in the recent SEABA Championship at the Smart Araneta Coliseum where they wound up third behind the Gilas elite team and the Indonesian squad bannered by naturalized player Jamarr Andre Johnson.

They have high hopes in doing better here as they finally compete with their own naturalized player in Lamb, a 6-foot-5 combo player who played college ball at UCLA and with Long Beach State.

He made waves in the region in leading the Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions to the championship in the 2016-17 ASEAN Basketball League season.

Seven players from the Thai SEABA roster are retained for their SEAG lineup led by prolific shooting guard Chitchai Ananti.

Thailand will also bank on other veterans Pathiphan Klahan, Shukdave Ghogar, Nattakarn Buangboon, Chanachon Klahan, Teerawat Chanthachon and Kannut Samerjai.

Curiously missing in their lineup is forward Wutipong Dasom, their second leading scorer behind Ananti in the SEABA Championship.

With Andray Blatche and the other Gilas elite players, the Philippines crushed Thailand, 108-53.

Among the Gilas SEABA players, only Troy Rosario is left in the Phl roster here.

The TNT KaTropa forward is hopeful, though, they can accomplish the mission of winning a 12th straight SEAG men’s basketball gold medal for the country.

“We have a good chemistry. I’m confident we can do the job,” said Rosario, among the players here with previous SEAG experience along with Baser Amer, Kiefer Ravena, Bobby Ray Parks, Kevin Ferrer and Mac Belo.