By Rey Joble

THE Philippine men?s basketball team may finally get the exposure it needs before plunging to action in Asian competitions.

Philippine Basketball Association media bureau chief and special assistant to the commissioner, Willie Marcial, is now in constant communication with Sydney Spirit marketing manager Marco Selorio, discussing the possibility of having a pocket tournament.

Marcial told Standard Today that the planned pocket tournament is now being discussed.

?Mag-uusap uli kami. Maganda naman ?yung kinalabasan ng pag-uusap namin and I will inform PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios about this,? said Marcial.

Selorio is a Filipino based in Sydney, Australia. He was the head of Hoopdreamz, a sports promotion outfit, which also organizes the PBA Legends Tour before he was appointed marketing manager of Sydney Spirit in National Basketball League of Australia.

The Spirit, formerly known as the Kings, were a three-time champion of the NBL from 2003 to 2005.

RP quintet mentor Guaio was happy to hear this good development, saying this will be a much-needed help for his squad. ?It?s a welcome development. Malaking bagay ito sa atin dahil kailangang-kailangan natin ng tune-up game before the Seaba tournament. Sana magkasundo ang PBA and ?yung Sydney Spirit para magkaroon tayo ng pocket tournament.?

Selorio also said that one of his key players, Jason Smith, who played in the Philippines before, expressed interest in coming back to the country.

?Our former team captain, Jason Smith of Sydney Spirit, sent me a message that they are interested coming over,? Selorio said in an online interview. ?He played there before in 2005 as a member of the Sydney Kings. But some of our guys are on vacation right now, while some are playing in other leagues. But we can work this thing out. If the organizers can arrange a free airfare for our team, then we?re willing to go.?

?We see this as an opportunity to help the RP Team in our best possible way by playing against them,? said Selorio, who also suggested the Singapore Slingers as another team that might be interested to play the RP five.