ALLAN THE MAN

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) President Manny Pangilinan was elected to the FIBA Central Board in a board meeting on Saturday.

The FIBA Central Board has the power to establish the internal regulations of FIBA, which is the world’s governing body in basketball.

Portland Trail Blazer Robin Lopez said he’s willing to become a naturalized Filipino to be able to play for Gilas Pilipinas. 

Lopez, who visited communities affected by typhoon Yolanda, said he fell in love with Filipino culture, including their love for basketball. 

Although both NBA’s Andray Blatche and Asian Games-bound Marcus Douthit play the most significant roles in the Philippine national team, team captain Jimmy Alapag pointed out key differences between the two naturalized players.

In an interview on DZMM’s Fastbreak, Alapag said Blatche is more of an outside player due to his orientation in the NBA.

With Andray Blatche out of the Asian Games, Gilas Pilipinas will be tapping his fellow naturalized player Marcus Douthit for the 2014 Asian Games.

Also joining Gilas in Incheon, South Korea is team captain Jimmy Alapag, who will be stepping in for injured Jason Castro.

Klay Thompson helped the reigning world champions USA recover from a sluggish start to take a 96-68 win over Lithuania in the Semi-Finals of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup and return to the Final of FIBA's flagship event for the second consecutive time.

The USA now travel to Madrid to play the winners of Friday's Semi-Final between Serbia and France in Sunday's title game at the Palacio de los Deportes.

“We’re not healthy at all. We’re a banged up team.”

That’s the condition of the Philippine national men’s basketball team after some bone-wearying matches in their recently-concluded stint in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain, according to their head coach, Chot Reyes.

France and Serbia created a couple of seismic shocks in the FIBA Basketball World Cup on Wednesday by knocking Brazil and tournament hosts Spain out of the tournament.

Both the French and Serbians avenged defeats in Group A to set up a Semi-Finals against each other.The thumped Spain, 65-52, while in the day's first game, Serbia routed Brazil, 84-56.