Australian champs Sydney Spirit test mettle of Yeng Guiao’s RP five

MANILA, Philippines - A crack team from Australia will be coming here next month to face the Powerade-RP five of coach Yeng Guiao. The Sydney Spirit, formerly the Sydney Kings, will form up a strong 10-man squad led by World Basketball Championship veteran and former National Basketball League Most Valuable Player Jason Smith. They will go up against the all-pro Powerade-RP team that was just assembled late last year. The goodwill series between the Spirit and the Nationals was approved by the Philippine Basketball Association, which agreed to shoulder the airfare, hotel accommodation, food and transportation allowances of the visiting Australians. The delegation head will be Marco Selorio, a Filipino based in Sydney and marketing manager of the Spirit. PBA media bureau chief Willie Marcial, also the special assistant to PBA Commissioner Sonny Barrios, disclosed that the deal is as good as done with only the details on the date and the venue to be ironed out. “We (PBA) agreed to take care of their airfare, hotel accommodation, food and transportation allowance," said Marcial. “What we scrapped over their proposal was the per diem allowance. But everything went on smoothly. Magaan kausap si Marco." According to Marcial, the two-game goodwill series might take place anytime first week or second week of April, which will give the Filipinos more time to prepare for the Southeast Asia Basketball Association, the William Jones Cup and the FIBA Asia Men’s Basketball Championship. The goodwill games will be held in Manila – either at The Arena in San Juan or the Cuneta Astrodome. “Naka-set na yung Araneta for the PBA games eh. Aside from that, we also have to adjust to the PBA calendar and schedule the games at a time that won’t affect the pro league calendar," said Marcial. The 10-man squad from Sydney will be handled by Rob Beveridge, director of the Australian Institute of Sports. The AIS is one of the best sports institutions in the world. As proof of how good its program is, an under-19 team from the AIS stunned the RP team of coach Chot Reyes in the William Jones Cup tournament in 2005. Three other members of the Spirit, who were part of the three-time champion squad, are Graeme Dann, Clint Reed and Bruce Bolden. Reed is a 6’7" swingman, who averaged 13 points and five rebounds while Bolden was given recognition as a Sixth Man of the Year in the NBL while playing for the West Sydney Razorbacks in 1999. –GMANews.TV