RP 5 places 4th in FIBA Asia Champions Cup

A learning experience. This was how San Miguel Beer-RP head mentor Chot Reyes assessed his team's fourth place finish in the 18th FIBA Asia Champions Cup in Tehran, Iran. Based on official results sent to media organizations, the RP squad bowed to Al Rayyam of Qatar, 95-79, in the battle for third. Saba Batter of Iran defeated Al Jalaa of Syria, 83-75, to pocket the championship trophy. "The number one lesson is the realization that we are at this point very far from the best Asian teams," Reyes said. "If the FIBA Asia were played today then our chances would be very slim," he added. "At the same time, however, it is good that we learned these lessons now while we still have two months to improve. At the end of our game, I just asked each player to think long and hard about where he is at this point and where he wants to be come July 28. Only by each individual improving will the team improve." The same RP team will travel to Thailand for the May 24 to 28 Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) Championship, the qualifying tournament for the FIBA Asia Cup, which in turn is the qualifying tourney for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. "This was a long and difficult tournament, but it was well worth it," Reyes added. 18TH FIBA Champions Cup Final Standings 1. Saba Battery (Iran) 2. Al Jalaa (Syria) 3 Al Rayyan (Qatar) 4. San Miguel-RP (Philippines) 5. Blue Star (Lebanon) 6. Astana Tigers ( Kazakhstan) 7. Young Cagers (India) 8. Al Muharraq (Bahrain)

- GMANews.TV