Group A (China, IR Iran, Jordan, Pilipinas)

[JET007]

LETS GET IT ON!!!
PHI - Romero vows to restore Philippines' pride
MANILA (Southeast Asia Basketball Association Champions Cup) - Mike Romero has pledged to "bring back the glory" when he leads the Philippines in the Southeast Asia Basketball Association Champions Cup next week.

Romero's team - formed entirely of domestically-based players - will be the first Philippine side to compete internationally since FIBA lifted a suspension on the country in February of this year.

Basketball is the most popular game in the country, and Romero knows all eyes will be on his team.

"Let's bring back the glory," he said.

"This is the first Philippine team that will compete internationally since the FIBA suspension.

"And there is pressure because 87 million Filipinos are expecting no less than the championship."

Romero has won back-to-back titles with Harbour Centre in the Philippines Basketball League, but said nothing would compare to his new task, which is to steer the national team to an international crown.

"I consider this the biggest challenge of my life - winning for our country," he said of the coming tournament, which also serves as a qualifier for the FIBA Asia Champions Cup.

If the Philippines qualify, the all-pro team being coached and handled by Chot Reyes will take the place of the PBL selection, which is looking at two of Julius Nwosu, Jessie King and Sam Ekwe as their allowed import quota.

President Manny Pangilinan made a rare appearance as the team was unveiled at the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum and was just as optimistic as Romero.

He said: "I'm quite excited - it's very important for us to win the championship if only to signal the return of the Philippines in international competition.

"There's no option but to win."

Pangilinan admits he doesn't expect the title to come on a silver platter since all the competing countries are allowed to field as many as two imports, mostly Americans.

He added: "Will the games be a blow-out?

"It will be difficult because each of the other teams are also allowed to field imports, like Thailand and Malaysia.

"We have to be vigilant with what these teams will be doing."

[rensquared]

I vote for my home country. But the way I see it, this group is unpredictable. Saints13 is right, it can go either way. Being unpredictable makes it a lot more exciting. That is why I am so excited to watch this games..

[ros]

just what other pinoy posters said....I hope the poll here would also be the result of our group in FIBA..

[ammaroro]

Hi,
I think jordan team has a historical chance
to have a birth in the olympics next year, by being
in the first 4 rankings in this cup.

they have almost complete team eqiupped with players
at a high level of experience and skill (esp. Alkhas and douglas) and a very
professional coach (portuguese Mario Palma) who guided angola to the olympics and will try to repeat it with the jordan team.

i think jordan have a great chance to qualify from this year and get a
3-0 record.
for the second team i think it will be the philipines.

[rhk111]

I'll say this much: On of the contenders in the finals, could come from this "Group of Death". That's how strong it is right now.

[d'dreamer]

yeah!!!...yeah!!!...the poll might just become true at the actual game... the team who wants it more could become the champion. who wants it more?...the poll can tell you! the 90-million filipinos want it and will back up the 12-man team Pilipinas at tokushima and that would mean a lot for our team. who knows...its as unpredictable as it can be...but i dont think team pilipinas will lose to jordan. so as with china b and iran...we can beat lebanon, korea, c. taipei, japan and who else?...show your NT to our team pilipinas and we'll beat them one by one!!!....hell yeah!!!...Team Pilipinas rocks!

[igorotski]

yeah!!!...yeah!!!...the poll might just become true at the actual game... the team who wants it more could become the champion. who wants it more?...the poll can tell you! the 90-million filipinos want it and will back up the 12-man team Pilipinas at tokushima and that would mean a lot for our team. who knows...its as unpredictable as it can be...but i dont think team pilipinas will lose to jordan. so as with china b and iran...we can beat lebanon, korea, c. taipei, japan and who else?...show your NT to our team pilipinas and we'll beat them one by one!!!....hell yeah!!!...Team Pilipinas rocks!

*sigh*

[onono1]

No offense guys but this poll is bias because majority of the forum members are filipinos so what do we expect to emerge here...Even in african section you can find a filipino posting a thread. Thats what we called Philippine Invasion of Interbasket.net. Mabuhay!!!

[SkyWalker]

No offense guys but this poll is bias because majority of the forum members are filipinos so what do we expect to emerge here...Even in african section you can find a filipino posting a thread. Thats what we called Philippine Invasion of Interbasket.net. Mabuhay!!!

hehe.. thats how i like it..

[d'dreamer]

Now I understand why your nick is "d'dreamer"

Dream on!dreamer!

don't worry man, two weeks from now it wont be a dream anymore... i know it will be tough but im pretty sure our NT would end up the champion...
...and you might just flip your face off!

[mikepogi]

The top 2 favorites can easily be the bottom 2 in this group. Thats how tough this group is.. In fact you spread all 4 teams to different groups, and they all have a strong chance in qualifying to the next round.

[Grr_tiger]

5 DAYS TO GO BAKBAKAN NA!!


TEAM PILIPINAS needs your prayers.

[saints13]

No offense guys but this poll is bias because majority of the forum members are filipinos so what do we expect to emerge here...Even in african section you can find a filipino posting a thread. Thats what we called Philippine Invasion of Interbasket.net. Mabuhay!!!

yeah correct!

just don't mind the poll in the thread, it's not the pulse of Asia..

[Grr_tiger]

4 DAYS TO GO BAKBAKAN NA!!


TEAM PILIPINAS needs your prayers.

[macky]

Hi,
I think jordan team has a historical chance
to have a birth in the olympics next year, by being
in the first 4 rankings in this cup.

they have almost complete team eqiupped with players
at a high level of experience and skill (esp. Alkhas and douglas) and a very
professional coach (portuguese Mario Palma) who guided angola to the olympics and will try to repeat it with the jordan team.

i think jordan have a great chance to qualify from this year and get a
3-0 record.
for the second team i think it will be the philipines.

jordan is a strong team defensively, i think they have the defence to beat any team in tokushima. even with a loss against china b team, it does'nt necessarilly mean that they can't beat that team. jordan has a solid frontline and the addition of rasheim gives them a formidable backcourt which they lack in the past years. as for douglas or is it daghlas? i think mark caguiao is way more better than that guy.

[ctongco]

3 more days. Good luck Team Pilipinas!

[thelebanon]

65. Philippines 3.6 fiba ranking

no comment but i love philipines team and i think philipines team had a chance to win jordan and irann

[ryannaja]

This is without doubt the group of death! Sorry to all Supporters of the RP team, but despite having a good squad I do not think they will even make the last eight! This group is really a tough one. China will definitely make it through without any of the teams causing them problems & Jordan are a much stronger squad right now as we've seen in the Jones Cup. Even Iran is pretty good. But here is how it'll be:

1 - China 3-0
2 - Jordan 2-1
3 - Philippines 1-2
4 - Iran 0-3 (although Iran are definitely one of the top ten Asian teams)

Sorry RP fans.

[thelebanon]

hi ,,

china 3-0
rp 2-1
iran 1-2
jordan 0-3


Please could you provide the times for us in Japan. I want to know which games I can watch, and which Ill have to try to see at work because iam now in new york

[Onizuka01]

toughest challenge for RP comes forth in 2 days..