Gilas squad off to Qatar

THE SMART-Gilas Pilipinas squad faces its first acid test when it squares off against host Qatar at the start of the 21st FIBA-Asia Champions Cup. 

The nationals actually leave for Doha today to at least have a rest of two full days after drawing a bye on Saturday. They plunge into action on Sunday a day after the start of the same tournament where they placed fifth in Jakarta, Indonesia last year.
The bulky Qataris, who are reinforced by African and American imports, are the first of difficult roadblocks which the Filipinos must hurdle.
The team will be going to Qatar with Filipino American Chris Lutz and Serbian Milan Vucicevic as imports.
After Qatar, the nationals will take on the hefty Kazakhstan squad on Monday and defending champion Iran on Tuesday. The Filipinos’ last opponent in Group A will be Iraq, another title contender.
Group B, meanwhile, is composed of Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Lutz played his first official game for the squad in an exhibition game against the Sta. Lucia Realty squad, two days after arriving from the US.
The 6’4” Lutz has averaged 8.7 points a game, including an impressive .421 shooting clip from behind the arc and normed 1.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and a steal for the Marshall University Thundering Herd in the recent US National Collegiate Athletic Association. Peter Atencio