MANILA, 19 July — Lady luck smiles on the Philippine team, at least for now.

The quirks of draw in the Busan Asian Games in September went in favor of the Philippine basketball team as it avoided being included in the "Group of Death" and, instead, found itself bracketed with lightly-regarded opponents.

Indeed, after months of trials and uncertainty, something finally went right for the country as the Fil-Am-backed national cagers avoided a dreadful semifinals encounter with defending champions China.

The Philippines, which finished third behind China and Korea during the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games, was bracketed with lightweights United Arab Emirates and India in Group C.

The draw released by Busan organizers had the Philippines getting into admittedly the lightest of the four groups in the eliminations, putting the country in a good position to go for its first Asiad gold medal in four decades.

China will lead Group A, Korea Group B and Kazakhstan Group D in the 13-nation basketball event.

But the result of the draw meant that the Philippines, to be represented by the best players from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) for the fourth time, might be in for a titanic semifinal showdown with the South Koreans, notorious for hometown decisions. But that would be better than meeting China in the crossover semis.

Against the United Arab Emirates and India — two teams which failed to advance past the eliminations in the last Asian championships (ABC) — national team coach Jong Uichico’s side should encounter just token resistance to booking themselves into the quarterfinals.

"It’s a good draw," said Uichico , who will be seeking to give the country its first gold since last winning it in 1962. "That is, if we place the way we want to place."

The top two teams of each of the four groupings would meet again for the four semifinals slots and a chance to make the medal round.

Nonetheless, the all-professional Philippine basketball team saw itself closer to the dream that escaped three other previous teams in the last 12 years.

The Nationals benefited from the sudden withdrawal of Saudi Arabia from the basketball competition that resulted in a roster shake-up that put the Filipino cagers in a relatively light grouping.

But everything stops there, including the light matches that would have the Filipino cagers virtually strolling in the park. And the Philippine team — which is among the favorites to win the basketball gold medal — would have to work doubly hard if it wants to have a shot, at the least, at the bronze medal.

Earlier, Uichico had said that he would favor a draw that would pit his wards against any team but China in the semis.

"And if things go on as planned, we’ll meet China in a one-game final where anything can happen," he said.

Chances are, should the Philippines tops the group and the seedings in the other brackets hold up, the Filipinos could be grouped with defending champions China in the quarterfinals, meaning they could steer clear from the perennial Asian titlist in the crossover semifinals.

"As I said, the draw favors us," said Uichico, "but first, we have to top our group. Otherwise, the road would become a lot tougher for us."

The Chinese, who are favored heavily to rule the tournament, are joined in Group A by Hong Kong and Lebanon, which is regarded as the tournament darkhorse after stretching China to the limit in last year’s Asian championships.

In Group B, the host will be up against Japan, Kuwait and Mongolia.

On the other hand, Group D is unpredictable with Chinese-Taipei, Qatar and Kazakhstan, which the Philippines beat for the bronze in Bangkok, Thailand, four years ago, going up against each other.

Tournament format will have the eight quarterfinalists divided into two brackets — the first will have the Group A topnotcher, the second placer in Group B, the top team in Group C and the runner-up in Group D, while the other bracket will group the second placer in Group A, the topnotcher in Group B, the runner-up in Group C and the No. 1 team from Group D.

Assuming the heavyweights run according to script, the Philippines, if it tops Group C, will most likely find itself in the same group with China, Japan and either Chinese-Taipei or Kazakhstan and needing only to place second to the Chinese to get into the crossover semifinals.

Korea and Lebanon are tipped to advance to the Final Four from the other group. If that happens, such a scenario would have the Philippine team facing either Korea or Lebanon for the right to meet China in the one-game finals.

"If we’d place second in the quarterfinals, we’d still have to get by Korea which will most likely top the other group," said Uichico, saying he prefers to meet the Lebanese rather than the South Koreans in the semis.

"It’s better to play Lebanon than Korea since, you know, you’d surely have a hard time against the home team."

Assistant coach Allan Caidic agreed.

"The good thing here was that Lebanon was drawn into the China group and India fell into ours. But still, we need to stay focused against these smaller teams," said Caidic, himself a many-time Asian Games campaigner.

Lebanon, among the teams expected to crowd for the Asiad gold medal, is reportedly recruiting three Lebanese-American to beef up its lineup.

With a team backstopped by two Lebanese-Americans, Joseph William Vogel and Richard Hallet, Lebanon finished behind perennial champions China in the last Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC).

Vogel is a 6-foot-11, 245-pound center who played for Lebanon during the 1999 McDonalds Championships won by the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Since its formation late last year, the Philippine team’s preparations have been hounded by one setback after another — the latest being the hamstring injury that is expected to sideline top forward Danny Seigle for at least two weeks.

Over the past few months, the team has also been saddled by a stroke suffered by Ron Jacobs, the original choice to coach the team, as well as a lackluster showing by its two candidates’ teams in the PBA Governor’s Cup.

"It’s been like that. It’s like when things are starting to get together, suddenly there is this kind of setback (Seigle’s injury). I thought we were starting to play well as a team and now, it happened again," said Ucihico. "But hopefully, things will start looking up soon."

Yet, even with its current form, the Philippine basketball team — which tasked to carry the heaviest load for the country’s hope for the most important gold medal bid in the Games — is still highly expected to at least book one of the two quarterfinal slots in Group C.

The "real matches," according to a source with links to the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC), would take place at the quarterfinal round, in which China, Japan, Chinese-Taipei and the Philippines, are expected to comprise the first group with Lebanon, South Korea, Qatar and either UAE or India completing the other.

Each team will play three games in each half, with the Philippine team’s matchup against Japan being considered as the major turning point of the country’s bid to make the medal round. The Filipino cagers must take the Japanese out of the picture before they put their minds on either China or Korea and the elusive gold medal that was almost won by the very first all-professional team that represented the country in the Beijing in 1990.

Standing in the way of the Filipinos, however, is a deadly group that has earned slots in the Asian All-Stars and a couple of championships between them in the professional Japan Basketball League.

Pure shooter Orimo Takehiko, a young recruit from the JBL, is expected to back up Japan’s main man Michael Takashi — or Michael Dorsey ñ who will once again lead the Japanese side as a more matured cager following his stint with the Isuzu Gigacats and the Converse All-Star game.

Japan will also introduce its hottest player of the moment, Yuta Tabuse of Toyota who will sub for Takihiro Setsumara to make up the frontline that will be reinforced by naturalized Japanese Eric McArthur, a bulky 6-foot-6 pure center who won’t trade his space at the paint at the slightest bang any of the touted Fil-Americans in the Philippine team would give him.

The national mentor said monitoring the former Russian states is what the coaching staff has a hard time doing.

Uichico’s wariness for the former Russian states lies in the fact that Kazakhstan nearly pulled off a pair of upsets against the Philippines in the 1998 Asiad, with the Centennial Team barely escaping for a third-placed finish.

In keeping with the promise of leaving no stone unturned in its bid to regain glory in the Asian Games, Uichico vows to intensify the Philippines’ scouting mission abroad.

The coaching staff has put its scouting mission in motion while at the same time gearing up the national buildup at home barely seven months before the actual campaign in Busan.

The PBA has earmarked at least P20 million for the formation, preparation and actual participation of the national team to the Asiad.

Close to P24 million was spent in Bangkok four years ago as part of the national team’s preparations, including its stint in the PBA Centennial Cup and an inter-state tour of US where the nationals went up against tough collegiate squads.

The PBA is spending more on scouting the opposition, which is seen as a very crucial factor to win the elusive gold.

The staging of the quadrennial meet could very well be the biggest acid test for the PBA, which for the past three editions of the games has represented the country and carried the burden of trying to live up to the Filipinos’ expectations of winning the gold.

The PBA has sent the best players, and coaching staff, it could best offer to fulfill its golden mission — to no avail, though.

And again, the PBA is pulling no stops in preparing and sending the best possible team to Busan. So four years since the last Asian Games in 1998, the Philippines will embark on a mission yet again to reclaim regional basketball throne from the Chinese with the help of much taller, heftier, quicker and talented Fil-foreign players.

Names like Paul Asi Taulava, Eric Menk and Danny Seigle are among those Fil-foreigners who are forming the nucleus of the Philippine team, which settled for a bronze medal in the last Asian Games in 1998 when it was known as the Centennial Team — a year before the feared troika joined the pro league. Others in the list are Kenneth Duremdes, Andy Seigle, Dennis Espino and Olsen Racela, all members of the Centennial Team. Also named to the magic 15 were Chris Jackson, Jeffrey Cariaso, Rudy Hatfield, Danny Ildefonso, Dondon Hontiveros, Mick Pennisi, Boyet Fernandez and the controversial Noy Castillo.

This marks the fourth time since the open basketball was introduced in 1990 that the PBA will be sending a selection to the Asian Games. The immediate goal is to improve on a bronze medal finish in 1998. The biggest task, however, is obviously to reclaim the throne from defending champions China.

A team coached by superstar Robert Jaworski lost to the powerhouse Chinese in the finals of the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing, while the squad handled by Norman Black failed to win a medal after finishing fourth in the 1994 Games in Hiroshima.

The Centennial Team coached by Tim Cone, after months of rigid training at home and abroad, won the bronze medal in Bangkok in 1998.