Smart Gilas-Pilipinas upsets Iran in Day 1 of Jones Cup

Mark Barroca

Taipei, Taiwan - Smart Gilas was not supposed to face Iran today. But due to the change in schedule, they did. The National Team showed up and beat them up to a 73-59 win.
Iran is the back-to-back Jones Cup champs. And not only that, the back-to-back Asian Champions. Smart Gilas-Pilipinas did not show any intimidation or fear to the bigger and taller opponents. They went right into the core of the Iranian defense and showed impressive ball movement to find open shots. Japeth Aguilar was a monster on the defensive end able to get 4 block shots. With the discrepancy in heigth, our national team countered with gang rebounding and boxing out. Even Mark Barroca, a 5'8" point guard being able to get at least 7 rebounds. He also scored 13 points in a balanced scoring attack by the Filipino point guards. JV Casio, another 5'8" guard, scored 11 points to add to the back court scoring punch. Marcus Douthit, led the Philippines in scoring with 24 points scoring at will against Hamed Haddadi, an NBA standout, with medium range jumpers and some lowpost moves. The most impressive part of the win is Smart Gilas' defense. They were able to disrupt Iran's offense and force them to one shot per possession and turnovers. Iran shot only around 30% from the field and was held down to only 8 points in the third quarter.

Iran was led by Hamed Haddadi's 24 points. Smart Gilas-Pilipinas next game is tomorrow against the home team, Chinese-Taipei at 7PM.

Meanwhile, according to the reports of June Navarro of Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas has decided to extend the Smart Gilas program to two more years up to the 2013 Fiba Asia Championship where three continental slots are at stake for the world championship the following year.

“That’s right. The program has been extended for two more years without specific details,” said Smart Gilas manager Frankie Lim.

The three-year program that started late 2008 will reach its climax in the Asian championship in Wuhan, China next month, the qualifier for the 2012 London Olympics.

The champion in the continental meet on Sept. 15-25 earns a ticket to London while the losing finalist and the bronze finisher get another crack in the Fiba Olympic qualifying a few months before the Olympics.

Smart Gilas operations head Butch Antonio said the composition of the national team after Wuhan remains unknown since the contracts of the players, along with the coaching staff led by Toroman, are set to expire at the end of September.

Some of the Nationals are also joining the PBA Rookie Draft on Aug. 26 at Robinson’s Ermita.

SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan announced the new timetable for the Nationals during a send-off dinner for the Jones Cup team he hosted Wednesday night.

Toroman said Pangilinan gave the players a choice between the PBA and serving the national team for two more years.

“It’s now up to the players if they want to stay or go to the PBA,” said Toroman.

Though Toroman’s tenure highly depends on the team’s output in the Asian championship, he hailed the decision as a crucial move that would keep the national squad competitive against the best teams in the continent.

“The program is already in place and extending it for two more years could produce better results,” said Toroman, who brought Iran to the 2008 Beijing Olympics after capturing the 2007 Fiba Asia Championship.

“We have a strong chance to nail one of those three slots in the world championship,” he added.

Box Score 


PHILIPPINES 73 - Douthit 24, Barroca 13, Casio 11, Baracael 8, Aguilar 6, Hontiveros 2, Taulava 2, Tiu 4, Lassiter 3, Lutz 0
IRAN 59—Haddadi 25, Kamrani 18, Davarpanahfard 7, Sohrabnejad 3, Veisi 2, Kardoust 2, Nabipoor 2, Boragh 0, Davoudichegani 0, Sahakian 0, Rouzbahani 0.
Quarters: 17-12, 37-30, 54-38, 73-59