Smart Gilas Pilipinas NT defeats Iran NT, 73-59 in 2011 William Jones Cup.
Pilipinas, Ahoo3x! What a great start for the Philippine National Basketball Team by defeating the Asian powerhouse Iran, 73-59 in 2011 William Jones Cup Basketball Tournament held last night at Hsinchuang Stadium in New Taipei City. For further news details, here's the report courtesy of Philstar.Com.
Gilas beats mighty Iran (Jones Cup 2011)
source: Joey Villar | philstar.com
CHINESE Taipei– Smart Gilas Pilipinas finally cracked the mystery cloaking defending back-to-back champion Iran as it hammered out a convincing 73-59 victory last night to jumpstart its ambitious title campaign in William Jones Cup at the Hsinchuang Stadium in New Taipei City here.
Naturalized Marcus Douthit held his own against 7-2 Memphis Grizzlies big man Hamed Haddadi although it was the Filipinos' unnerving defense, nifty passing and sweet perimeter shooting that did the trick.
"We know we are good and we proved it on the court today (last night)," said a relieved Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman, who steered this same Iran team that topped the 2007 FIBA-Asia Championship in Tokushima, Japan.
It was Smart Gilas' first victory over Iran since its victory in last year's Stankovic Cup in Lebanon that ended several heartbreaking defeats including one in the semifinals of the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup in Pasig City two months ago.
And it came at a time when the Nationals are preparing hard for the FIBA-Asia Championship slated Sept. 15-25 in Wuhan, China where the eventual winner will represent the region in the 2012 London Olympics.
"Our defense was great, it will give the players confidence after facing the toughest defense in this tournament. This win showed that we could compete against anybody in Asia," said Toroman.
Smart Gilas had its first glimpse of Haddadi, who grounded and pounded his way to 25 points including a pair of triples that gave the Filipinos a lot of problems.
It was, however, the 6-10 Douthit who had the last laugh as he poured in 24 points, mostly on short jumpers and from the free throw line, while outrebounding the taller, bigger Haddadi, 11-9.
"Marcus (Douthit) played great defense, today (yesterday) he did a lot of good things," said Toroman.
Haddadi's presence wasn't enough though to turn the tide as Iran thoroughly missed main men Nikkah Bahrami and Hamed Afagh. Bahrami is reportedly arriving today to join the team due to personal reasons while Afagh was in uniform but didn't play because of injury.
Co-skipper Mark Barroca and JV Casio fired 13 and 11 points, respectively, to provide some scoring relief to Douthit.
The Filipinos controlled the tempo from the start with a stingy defense and crisp passing game to seize an 11-point lead, its biggest in the game, but saw it cut down to 30-37 at the break no thanks to the bullish Haddadi, who churned out 12 points in the first half.
Referees called it tight from the start with both teams getting into penalty early in both quarters.
It got to the Iranians nerves that they were slapped with two technical fouls in the first half including one from Iran's Serbian coach Veselin Matic.
Earlier, Jordan smashed United Arab Emirates, 91-72, to set in motion its bid of regaining the title it last won in 2007 and 2008.
Naturalized Rashiem Wright had a superb all-around game with 15 points, four rebounds, four asists and three steals while Zaid Abbas drilled in 14 points by making seven of his eight shots inside to seal the win for the Jordanians.
South Korea, manged by the legendary Shin Dong Pa and coached by former national team standout Hur Jae, whitewashed a hapless Malaysia, 110-50, to likewise jumpstart its title campaign.
Tae Jong Mong, known before in his American name is Jerod Stevenson whose mother is a Korean, and Byung Hyun Kang fired 17 points apiece including a combined eight of the Koreans' 18 booming triples.
Jones Cup notes: Powerade team governor JB Baylon and coach Bo Perasol flew here to watch Smart Gilas stun Iran. Obviously, the two are scouting since they would have two first round picks in the PBA rookie draft on Aug. 28 including the first overall pick...Haddadi received the loudest cheer since everyone here knows the Memphis Grizzlies center is the only NBA player seeing action here...
The scores:
Smart Gilas Pilipinas 73- Douthit 24, Barroca 13, Casio 11, Baracael 8, Aguilar 6, Tiu 4, Lassiter 3, Hontiveros 2, Taulava 2, Lutz 0
Iran 59- Haddadi 25, Kamrani 18, Davarpanahfard 7, Sohrabnejad 3, Veisi 2, Kardoust 2, Nabipoor 2, Davoudichegani 0, Sahakian 0
Quarterscores: 17-12; 37-30; 54-38; 73-59.
August 6, 2011 (Day 1)
1st Game - Jordan def. UAE, 91-72
2nd Game - Korea def. Malaysia, 110-50
3rd Game - Philippines def. Iran NT, 73-59
4th Game - Taiwan def. Japan, 99-72
CHINESE Taipei– Smart Gilas Pilipinas finally cracked the mystery cloaking defending back-to-back champion Iran as it hammered out a convincing 73-59 victory last night to jumpstart its ambitious title campaign in William Jones Cup at the Hsinchuang Stadium in New Taipei City here.
Naturalized Marcus Douthit held his own against 7-2 Memphis Grizzlies big man Hamed Haddadi although it was the Filipinos' unnerving defense, nifty passing and sweet perimeter shooting that did the trick.
"We know we are good and we proved it on the court today (last night)," said a relieved Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman, who steered this same Iran team that topped the 2007 FIBA-Asia Championship in Tokushima, Japan.
It was Smart Gilas' first victory over Iran since its victory in last year's Stankovic Cup in Lebanon that ended several heartbreaking defeats including one in the semifinals of the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup in Pasig City two months ago.
And it came at a time when the Nationals are preparing hard for the FIBA-Asia Championship slated Sept. 15-25 in Wuhan, China where the eventual winner will represent the region in the 2012 London Olympics.
"Our defense was great, it will give the players confidence after facing the toughest defense in this tournament. This win showed that we could compete against anybody in Asia," said Toroman.
Smart Gilas had its first glimpse of Haddadi, who grounded and pounded his way to 25 points including a pair of triples that gave the Filipinos a lot of problems.
It was, however, the 6-10 Douthit who had the last laugh as he poured in 24 points, mostly on short jumpers and from the free throw line, while outrebounding the taller, bigger Haddadi, 11-9.
"Marcus (Douthit) played great defense, today (yesterday) he did a lot of good things," said Toroman.
Haddadi's presence wasn't enough though to turn the tide as Iran thoroughly missed main men Nikkah Bahrami and Hamed Afagh. Bahrami is reportedly arriving today to join the team due to personal reasons while Afagh was in uniform but didn't play because of injury.
Co-skipper Mark Barroca and JV Casio fired 13 and 11 points, respectively, to provide some scoring relief to Douthit.
The Filipinos controlled the tempo from the start with a stingy defense and crisp passing game to seize an 11-point lead, its biggest in the game, but saw it cut down to 30-37 at the break no thanks to the bullish Haddadi, who churned out 12 points in the first half.
Referees called it tight from the start with both teams getting into penalty early in both quarters.
It got to the Iranians nerves that they were slapped with two technical fouls in the first half including one from Iran's Serbian coach Veselin Matic.
Earlier, Jordan smashed United Arab Emirates, 91-72, to set in motion its bid of regaining the title it last won in 2007 and 2008.
Naturalized Rashiem Wright had a superb all-around game with 15 points, four rebounds, four asists and three steals while Zaid Abbas drilled in 14 points by making seven of his eight shots inside to seal the win for the Jordanians.
South Korea, manged by the legendary Shin Dong Pa and coached by former national team standout Hur Jae, whitewashed a hapless Malaysia, 110-50, to likewise jumpstart its title campaign.
Tae Jong Mong, known before in his American name is Jerod Stevenson whose mother is a Korean, and Byung Hyun Kang fired 17 points apiece including a combined eight of the Koreans' 18 booming triples.
Jones Cup notes: Powerade team governor JB Baylon and coach Bo Perasol flew here to watch Smart Gilas stun Iran. Obviously, the two are scouting since they would have two first round picks in the PBA rookie draft on Aug. 28 including the first overall pick...Haddadi received the loudest cheer since everyone here knows the Memphis Grizzlies center is the only NBA player seeing action here...
The scores:
Smart Gilas Pilipinas 73- Douthit 24, Barroca 13, Casio 11, Baracael 8, Aguilar 6, Tiu 4, Lassiter 3, Hontiveros 2, Taulava 2, Lutz 0
Iran 59- Haddadi 25, Kamrani 18, Davarpanahfard 7, Sohrabnejad 3, Veisi 2, Kardoust 2, Nabipoor 2, Davoudichegani 0, Sahakian 0
Quarterscores: 17-12; 37-30; 54-38; 73-59.
August 6, 2011 (Day 1)
1st Game - Jordan def. UAE, 91-72
2nd Game - Korea def. Malaysia, 110-50
3rd Game - Philippines def. Iran NT, 73-59
4th Game - Taiwan def. Japan, 99-72
Related Article from Philstar.com.
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MANILA, Philippines - Smart Gilas Pilipinas will continue its chase not just of an Olympic berth in London next year but also of a spot in the 2014 FIBA World Championship.
Smart Gilas team manager Frankie Lim said Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Manny V. Pangilinan recently told the Nationals that the stakeholders funding the team have agreed to extend the program for a couple of more years.
“We were told Smart Gilas will be extended for another two years without specific details,” said Lim.
The lack of details means Serbian coach Rajko Toroman’s future with the Nationals is uncertain although his stay could hinge on how they will fare in the FIBA Asia Championship slated Sept. 15-25 in Wuhan, China where the winner represents the region in London.
It could also mean that there would be changes in the composition of the team since its current members aren’t barred from applying for the coming PBA rookie draft.
“It would be good for Philippine basketball because the program is already in place. It is a shame if it would be put to waste,” said Toroman, whose team is currently in Chinese Taipei seeing action in the Jones Cup that started yesterday.
Toroman explained there are more talented players available now including naturalized 6-10 center Marcus Douthit and some PBA reinforcements.
“The team could be formed with the combination of old Smart Gilas players and some new ones from the collegiate level plus Marcus (Douthit) and some PBA players,” said Toroman.
“I’m really happy for Smart Gilas because I know we have the potential to make it big, with or without me,” he added.
The door to the FIBA World is a bit wider for Asian teams. The 2013 FIBA Asia Championship stakes three spots to that elite tournament.
“In Wuhan, Asia is given just one berth to the Olympics but in 2013, three slots will be given to Asia so we have a stronger chance to make a good run at it,” said Toroman.
Douthit, a naturalized player who has given Smart Gilas some inside lift, is expected to be at the forefront of the Nationals’ FIBA Worlds campaign as the 6-10 big man is expected to provide the muscle and heft the Phl traditionally lacks.
Smart Gilas is also expected to re-absorb seven-footer Greg Slaughter and 6-6 Aldrech Ramos, who are currently playing for Ateneo and Far Eastern U, respectively, in the ongoing UAAP cage wars.
There are other talented young collegiate players like Bobby Ray Parks of National U and Kiefer Ravena of Ateneo.
Of course, there are the pros.
“It’s a big talented pool of players to choose from so the future looks bright for Smart Gilas,” said Toroman.
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