Rajko to unveil ‘stronger’ Indonesia

A late schedule change has made life a little more difficult for the Philippines in the second window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers in Bahrain on Nov. 27-30. FIBA recently advanced the Philippines’ game against Indonesia from the third window to the second so Gilas will now face coach Rajko Toroman’s squad on Nov. 29. In the first window last February, the Philippines travelled to Jakarta and won, 100-70. They were supposed to meet again, this time in Manila, in the third window on Feb. 18 but the contest has been moved over to Bahrain.

Assuming South Korea shows up to play in Bahrain, this is how the Philippines’ schedule of opponents will look like----Thailand on Nov. 27, South Korea on Nov. 28, Indonesia on Nov. 29 and Thailand on Nov. 30. It’s still not sure if the Philippines will be credited a win by default if the Koreans make good on their announcement of skipping the tournament due to the pandemic. For Gilas, it will be either four games in four days or three games in four days. At presstime, SBP special assistant to the president Ryan Gregorio said FIBA’s final direction on the tournament schedule was still pending.

Thailand is reporting for duty without American coach Chris Daleo and Thai-American star Tyler Lamb who had 33 points, eight rebounds and six assists in the gold medal game of men’s basketball at the SEA Games here last December. The Philippines crushed Thailand, 115-81, for the crown. Without Lamb, Thailand is expected to lean on 6-9 Chanatip Jakrawan, 6-0 Wattana Suttisin, 6-3 Nakorn Jaisanuk, 6-7 Klahan Patiphan, 6-0 Montien Wongsawangtham and 5-11 Nattakarn Muangboon for firepower.

Toroman said he’s rearmed for Bahrain with naturalized player Lester Prosper and Indonesian-American forward Brandon Jawato.  FIBA has just announced that it will recognize Jawato, who was born in the US, as a local, not a naturalized import. Jawato, 27, received his Indonesian passport only this year, way beyond the eligibility rule of foreign-born players claiming citizenship before turning 16. The 6-4 former University of Hawaii teammate of Christian Standhardinger averaged 13.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists for the ABL champion CLS Knights of Indonesia last year. Prosper, 32, is a 6-11 center who averaged 19.6 points as a senior at NCAA Division III Old Westbury in 2010-11. He barnstormed Sweden, Slovakia, Russia, England, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Panama, Spain, Mexico, Canada and the Philippines before landing a job in Indonesia. Prosper is familiar with the Philippine style, having played for Columbian in the PBA and San Miguel Beer in the Terrific 12.

“We are much stronger now than in the first window,” said Toroman. “We’ve been practicing almost three months, first in Bandung after that in Jakarta. Lester has been one month with us.” Aside from Prosper and Jawato, Toroman will rely on 5-8 sharpshooter Andakara Dhyaksa Prastawa and 5-11 Abraham Grahita. Against Gilas in the first window, Prastawa scored 28 points and Grahita, 17. The only Gilas players who saw action in that game and are in the current 16-man pool are Matt Nieto, Dwight Ramos, Isaac Go and Juan Gomez de Liano.