ALAB PILIPINAS : FIRST HOME GAME WILL BE FREE TO THE PUBLIC

The Philippine team in the ASEAN Basketball League or ABL, the Tandiuay Alab Pilipinas  announced yesterday that their first home game on November 19 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena will be free to the public. This is a big treat to all of their fans.

It's a treat to our supporters. Free tickets. Just check @AlabPilipinas IG FB and Twitter accounts. Thanks @TheOfficialSMDC and @MOAArena pic.twitter.com/tFjlxSkp6s

— Charlie Dy (@SportsAgentCD) November 4, 2017

So to all basketball and Alab fans, this is a good chance to watch the newly revamped team, catch Dondon Hontiveros play again, watch Jimmy Alapag's coaching debut and get a glimpse of Christian Standhardinger live in actin as part of the Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions team.

So guys, mark your calendar and see you there on November 19 (which is coninceidentally my birthday as well)!

2017 FIBA ASIA CHAMPIONS CUP : CHOOKS TO GO PILIPINAS WILL PLAY AS A WILDCARD

It looks like Thailand's Mono Vampire is not the only Southeast Asian team that will join the 2017 FIBA Asia Champions Cup in Chenzou, China on September 22 - 30, 2017.

After a successful partnership with Gilas Pilipinas in the Jones Cup, 2017 FIBA Asia Cup and the 2017 Southeast Asian Games; Chooks to Go is again partnering with SBP to send a team - Chooks to Go Pilipinas to this tournament as well.

It was first announced by Coach Chot Reyes in his Twitter page with this post:

Breaking: Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas joins @FIBAAsiaCC. Games will be shown @TV5manila & @Sports5PH

— Chot Reyes (@coachot) September 5, 2017

It was confirmed by this article posted in the official website of the 2017 FIBA Asia Champion's Cup. Apparently, the Japan team SunRockers Shibuya withdrew due to the conflicting schedule with the B.League. Thus, FIBA awarded the wildcard to the Philippines.

The Chooks To Go Pilipinas team will be coached by none other than Coach Chot Reyes and Coach Jong Uichico as his deputy. Confirmed part of the team are Gilas players Fil-German Christian Standhardinger, Kiefer Ravena and Rayray Parks. It is also reported that Reymar Jose, Kobe Paras (if allowed by his college team), Jeron Teng, UP Maroons Jett Manuel and Bright Akhuetie will also join the team.

It is also not clear if PBA will also be allowing the Gilas Cadets to join the team, as this is not a national team tournament.

The team will be in Group A with BC Astana of Kazakhstan, Mono Vampire of Thailand, Petrochimi of Iran and Sarreyet Ramallah of Palestine.

The last time Philippines joined the FIBA Champions Cup was in 2011 when Smart Gilas Pilipinas hosted the other teams in the tournament. The team ended in 4th place that year.

Good Luck Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas! #LabanPilipinas

FIBA ASIA CUP 2017 : GILAS PILIPINAS SWEEPS GROUP B AS MORE THAN 2000 FILIPINOS CHEER ON

Gilas Pilipinas went on to sweep Group A of the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 in Beirut, Lebanon by beating Qatar, 80 - 74. With June Mar Fajardo still injured and Christian Standhardinger also sitting out due to a bad case of stiff neck, the Philippines had to rely on the sweet shooting of Matthew Right who finished with 25 points which included 7 three pointers.

Calvin Abueva also slipped in the second quarter and was not able to come back, our big guys having early foul trouble and Terrence Romeo was also misfiring, Gilas Pilipinas was able to play good team ball and had great performances from Gabe Norwood and Carl Bryan Cruz.

But what made this win special is that more than 15 bus fulls of Filipinos came out to support the team and the stadium felt like homecourt for the team. It is really amazing how Filipinos support Gilas where ever they play. They also get a chance to meet their idols after the game.

More than 2,000 Filipinos in Beirut to meet the Gilas Pilipinas: https://t.co/dfQQEM8F7X 😵🇵🇭🎉 #FIBAAsiaCup2017 pic.twitter.com/wWKj5xlkSX

— FIBA (@FIBA) August 13, 2017

With this win, Gilas Pilipinas advances automatically to the the quarterfinals, joining other top teams from the other groups - Australia, New Zealand and Iran. They will be battling against the winner of the game tonight between Korea and Japan. Whoever wins will definitely be a challenge for Gilas since both Korea has been a constant antagonist of Gilas while Japan gave us a good fight in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championships.

With 3 days rest, the Filipinos will definitely prepare hard for the game on Wednesday. Surely, Standhardinger and Abueva will be back to play and all are playing for June Mar to be able to play as well.

Laban Pilipinas!

FIBA ASIA CUP 2017 : GILAS PILIPINAS WINS OVER IRAQ, GETS SURE QUARTERFINAL SLOT

Gilas Pilipinas got over a slow first half and came back guns ablaze in the third quarter to seal the win against the tough Iraq team, 84 - 68 at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in Beirut, Lebanon.

After a close first half which ended at 32-31 in favor of Gilas, the Filipinos broke the game open on the 26-9 scoring run in the 3rd quarter to seal the game. The duo of Terrence Romeo and Christian Standhardinger provided crucial runs in the said quarter to help the Gilas squad to lead as much as more than 20 points and never look back from there. Romeo finished with 17 points and Standhardinger with 16 points, topscoring for the Philippines.

With this win, the Philippines is now sure of the top seed in Group B irregardless of the result of the match against Qatar on Sunday. This means that the Gilas Pilipinas will avoid going against Australia and New Zealand which is expected to top their respective groups.

Most probably, the Philippines will face the winner between Japan and Korea or Lebanon in the quarterfinals.

Another great win for Gilas Pilipinas! #LabanPilipinas

GILAS PILIPINAS: LOOK WHO SHOWED UP IN THE GILAS PRACTICE

Tonight is the first training day of the Gilas Pilipinas team for the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup. Surprisingly, a familiar face showed up. It is not the players but a former guide of our region basketball rival - it is former Thailand National Basketball Team head coach Tim Lewis.

Thailand's SEABA head coach, Tim Lewis is now part of the Gilas Pilipinas coaching staff 🇵🇭 pic.twitter.com/1Pzgj53Gpa

— Sports5 (@Sports5PH) July 27, 2017

Lewis was the coach of the Thailand NT since 2016 and was the coach when Gilas faced them during the SEABA tournament here in Manila. According to the news, after Thailand took home the bronze in that tournament, Lewis went back home for vacation. When he came back to Thailand, he was informed that he was going to be fired due to the team's performance. This came as a surprise to him and look where he is now - in the stable with the regional champions.

This can be an advantage to the SEA Games team, Since they will be facing Thailand in their first game on August 20, they might not have Christian Standhardinger and Carl Bryan Cruz since they are also in the FIBA Asia Cup line up which will only end on the same day. Though we are undermanned, the familiarity of Tim Lewis with the Thailand team will come in handy.

GILAS PILIPINAS: LINE UP FOR THE 2017 FIBA ASIA CUP REVEALED

The line up of the Gilas Pilipinas for the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup 2017 has been revealed shortly after the deadline last Tuesday night. Coach Chot Reyes posted this tweet in his account :

12 men; 12 practices; hopefully for 12 days in Beirut #LabanPilipinasPuso pic.twitter.com/AIrfSKO2GV

— Chot Reyes (@coachot) July 25, 2017

The line up include Gilas veterans Calvin Abueva, Japeth Aguilar, June Mar Fajardo, Terrence Romeo, Raymond Almazan and reigning best point guard in Asia Jayson Castro. Making a comeback for Gilas is our defense specialist - Gabe Norwood.

Also making the line up are Gilas cadets from the SEABA champion team RR Pogoy, Matthew Wright and Jio Jalalon. Making his first seniors mens team appearance is cadet Carl Bryan Cruz. Our naturalized player for this tournament is Fil-German Christian Standhardinger who impressed us in his Jones Cup performance.

Notably absent from the line up as compared to the SEABA team are Allein Maliksi, Troy Rosario and Andray Blatche, Troy will instead play with the remaining Gilas cadets in the Southeast Asian Games and try to retain the country's supremacy in the region. Blatche on the other hand said that there are multiple reasons on why the cannot join the team in Lebanon.

The FIBA Asia Cup will be on August 9 to 20, 2017 in Lebanon and games will be aired in TV% and Aksyon TV.