More snapshots from Jakarta

Here were some of the people who cheered the Smart Gilas team on in its match versus Lebanon.

Press conference after the match between Lebanon and Korea.

In Fadi El Khatib's second game (yes he only played two out of seven because of back spasms, the Tiger showed how good he is when he was responsible for the first 15 points of Al Riyadi Lebanon against Satria Muda Indonesia. In Lebanon's first possession, he faked off his man at the post then banked in a shot. He assisted, rebounded, and ran on his way to a game high 30 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 rebound. That was his last match for the tourney as he got injured again afterwards. He was in such pain he could only sleep on the floor of his hotel room.

The Sangmoo Army Club of Korea is indeed a military team. When their National Anthem is played, the entire squad salutes as this picture that I took shows. These guys are a bunch of tough hombres.

The tough thing about writing the daily news features about the Smart Gilas team was the schedule of the games and the deadline at Business Mirror. Remember Indonesia is an hour behind and if the match is at 4pm and that means it will end around 6pm (7pm Manila time). By then the sports section has been laid out and the space allotted for the story won't be much that's why it was oft condensed unless I sent it early.

When I had more time I was comfortable writing it. Posting the stories and my thoughts on the blog gave me more flexibility in writing about the team.