Tall order: Basketball officials looking at 6-10 Pinoy to boost roster

MANILA, Philippines - Team Philippines lacks some ceiling going into the Fiba-Asia men's championship. A Filipino playing US NCAA Division One basketball may solve that. RP team coach Yeng Guiao said his staff is waiting for Japeth Aguilar to arrive in May - just after the six-feet-10 center's college graduation - to bolster the Nationals' chances. Guiao announced on Wednesday the roster that will play in the Asian qualifiers for the World Championship and Aguilar's inclusion on the team, though still uncertain, will give some inside presence. The average height of the Nationals is six feet and four inches, a ceiling Guiao considered as "not bad enough". "This is not as big as I want it to be. We even wanted to have a naturalized player, but Mick [Pennisi] and Asi [Taulava] are here. At least they can provide size to a certain degree," Guiao said, adding that the team's speed and perimeter shooting will try to offset the lack of the height. Aguilar, a former Ateneo senior basketball player, is entering his second season as part of the Western Kentucky varsity. He averaged 13.3 minutes, 2.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in three games for the Hilltoppers last season. Guiao is set to name two more players and admitted Aguilar could be one of them. Stressing the height factor, Guiao decided to leave out five-feet-nine point-guard Jimmy Alapag, the country's starting playmaker in the Olympic qualifiers last year. "The emphasis here is in the international tournament. That's the reason why a very talented player like Jimmy is not in the list." Mark Caguioa, who has continued to miss games for Ginebra because of injury, was also stricken off the team. "I talked to his coach [Jong Uichico]," Guiao said, "and he too is very uncertain about Mark's condition, so we have to take some other players in his place." The Fiba-Asia tournament will be held September 1 to 9, 2009 in Guangzhou, China. The World Championship will be from August 23 to September 12 in Istanbul, Turkey. - GMANews.TV