THERE is a feeling of excitement at the men’s national basketball team camp as the squad prepares for a return engagement in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) this month.

After a short stint in the pro league last year where Smart Gilas Pilipinas participated as a guest, the team sees action in the coming Commissioner’s Cup and can now vie for the title.

Smart Gilas is taking the spot of on-leave Barako Bull in the coming tournament and, unlike before when its games were considered tune-up matches, this time the games will count on the team standings.

“We are excited to play in the PBA again and we are a little optimistic of our chances,” said skipper Chris Tiu as the team resumed training on Monday at The Arena in San Juan City.

And with six-foot-10 American reinforcement Marcus Douthit beefing up the squad in the conference which has a six-foot-four height ceiling format for imports, the nationals are expected to be one of the teams to watch out for.

“Marcus is the guy we wanted for this team. He’s tall, can defend and score and, most important, has a good attitude and chemistry with the team,” Tiu added.

The nationals, coached by Rajko Toroman of Serbia, are coming off a runner-up finish in 22nd Dubai Invitational Basketball Tournament last month.

In the Philippine Cup of the 2009-10 season, the nationals finished with a 4-7 win-loss slate marred by an incident where Air21 guard Wynne Arboleda hit a spectator who was allegedly heckling him.

The team is looking to duplicate what the Ron Jacobs-mentored Northern Cement Consolidated squad achieved in the ’80s where it won a PBA title as a guest team.

“The team is ready and we really need these games to toughen up the team,” said Smart Gilas team manager Frankie Lim.

Japeth Aguilar is back from a layoff due to knee injury while Greg Slaughter, who missed the Dubai stint to fulfill his academic requirements at Ateneo, will also suit up.

Lim said they won’t mind playing the PBA rules instead of the international rules.

“As much as we like it that the PBA will use the Fiba rules, we have to make do with what the PBA wants. The bottom line is we’re playing in the PBA and against the best players in the land, which will really help the team a lot,” said Lim.

The national squad is preparing for the Fiba Asia Men’s Championship in Wuhan in September, which offers one spot in the 2012 London Olympics.