22nd FIBA Asia Champions Cup

Hi there friends, some info you might want to know about the FIBA Asia Champions Cup from May 28 to June 05, 2011 held here in Manila.

Participating Teams:

Group A

Jordan (ASU)
Malaysia (WKL Dragons)
Iraq (Duhok)
Saudi Arabia (Al Ittihad)
Philippines (Smart Gilas)

Group B

Lebanon (Al Riyadi)
Qatar (Al Rayyan)
UAE (Al Shabab)
I.R. Iran (Mahram)
Syria (AL Jalaa)

Elimination Games Schedule for Smart Gilas Pilipinas: (Games will be held at Ultra in Pasig)
May 28 (Sat) 6pm vs Saudi Arabia
May 29 (Sun) 6pm vs Malaysia
May31 (Mon) 8pm vs Iraq
June 1 (wed) 8pm vs Jordan

Format:
Single round robin for each group. Top 4 teams from each group advance. Quarterfinals is a knockout crossover between 1vs4 & 2vs3 teams. Winners advance to the semis. Winners of semis advance to the finals. All games starting quarterfinals are knockout games.

Tickets:
You can purchase tickets at any SM ticketnet branch. Or you can call 4702222 for information. Ticket prices are not more than P250. Hurry because tickets are running out!

TV Coverage:
Live on IBC13

I'd like to personally invite all you Filipino basketball fans to come and support your National Team! This is a very rare chance to watch a very prestigious FIBA tournament like this LIVE! The middle eastern teams will be bringing most of their national team players plus 2 imports. Teams to watch out for are Iran, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, Jordan, but most especially the first two. Iran has won this tournament back to back in Jakarta (2009) & Qatar (2010) and their core players (Afagh, Kamrani, Samad Nikkah Bahrami) will be coming as well. Lebanon will be bring their national team players as well plus 7'2 ex-NBA Loren Woods. The legendary Fadi El Khatib & Egyptian star Ishmael are in the lineup too but i don't know if they will play. So that should be very exciting! Very high level of basketball.

This is the best chance for us to unite as one nation and cheer for country! See you guys at the games :)

Chris

P.S. This is not yet the Olympic qualifier. The Olympic qualifier, which is the FIBA ASIA CHAMPIONSHIP, will be held in September in Wuhan, China.