New coach for Jordan

Jordan is coming to Manila with newly-hired Spanish coach Luis Guil to battle Gilas in the fourth FIBA World Cup Asia qualifying window at the MOA Arena on Aug. 28. There will be a system change in the way Jordan plays and as Guil is known as a defensive coach, Gilas will be up against a crafty tactician with a rich international background.

Six teams are classified under Group E with Australia, Iran, Jordan, New Zealand, Philippines and Syria in the last three qualifying windows. Gilas faced Australia and New Zealand twice in the first round and now, will take on Jordan, Iran and Syria. The format is supposed to be home-and-away but because of the turmoil in West Asia, the fourth window games will be held at the MOA Arena with tripleheaders on Aug. 28 and 30. Tickets will be sold for both the Iran-New Zealand and Australia-Syria games but tickets for the Gilas-Jordan contest will be sold separately on Aug. 28. But on Aug. 30, a ticket will allow access to all three games – New Zealand-Syria, Australia-Jordan and Gilas-Iran.

Guil, 55, is somewhat familiar with Philippine-style basketball as he has supervised the training camp of San Beda in Malaga for two years. He disclosed to San Beda team manager Jude Roque during the camp a few weeks ago that a job to coach Jordan has come his way. Guil couldn’t finish the camp with the Red Lions as he prepared to leave for Jordan and designated Serbian coach Andrija Gavrilovic to take over. Guil said he’s excited to visit the Philippines as he’s heard so much about the Filipinos’ love for the game. He plans to stay a few days after the coming window to experience Filipino culture.

Guil has coached in Spain, UK, Venezuela and Japan. He was Spain’s U18, U19 and U20 coach and served as an assistant coach on the national squad at the 2020 Olympics and 2023 FIBA World Cup. Guil was a long-time assistant of Italian Sergio Scariolo who piloted Spain to the gold medal at the 2019 FIBA World Cup, silver at the 2012 Olympics and bronze at the 2016 Olympics. Scariolo is widely known as the creator of the “Spain pick and roll” which involves three offensive players – the primary ballhandler, the screener/roller and a third man who sets a back screen on the roller’s defender then pops out to receive a pass for a shot in the perimeter.

Jordan’s key players are 6-4 naturalized Jalen Harris, 6-2 1/2 point guard Freddy Ibrahim and 7-foot center Ahmad Dwairi. Harris, who turns 28 on Friday, was drafted by Toronto on the second round in the 2020 NBA draft and played 13 games for the Raptors in 2020-21. He has barnstormed Italy, Canada, Puerto Rico, China and Taiwan. Ibrahim, 29, played four years for D2 University of Tampa and has seen action in Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Syria. He’s a two-time World Cupper, two-time FIBA Asia Cupper and 2023 Asian Games veteran. Dwairi, 33, has played in seven Turkish league seasons and is a two-time World Cupper, three-time Asian Gamer and four-time FIBA Asia Cupper. In six FIBA World Cup Asia qualifying games, Harris averaged 27 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists, shooting 45.3 percent from three, Dwairi, 12.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists and Ibrahim, 11.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists.