JAKARTA – If its first two games in the 20th FIBA-Asia Champions Cup were to be used as a gauge, Smart Gilas Pilipinas is on the right track.
No less than Mahram of Iran coach Mostafa Hashemi and team captain Samad Nikkah Bahrami made the assessment after the Filipinos nearly pulled off an upset over the defending champions, who eventually prevailed, 98-87, Wednesday.
“They surprised us, they played very good,” said Hashemi, who took over from RP’s Serbian coach Rajko Toroman after the latter steered the Iran national team to the 2007 FIBA-Asia title in Tokushima, Japan and the 2008 Beijing Olympics, through an interpreter.
Bahrami, one of the four mainstays of Toroman’s Olympic team, said he saw some similarities with Smart Gilas when the Iranians were still starting out three years ago.
“They know what they’re doing on the court,” said Bahrami.
“Next year, we will have problems with this team (Smart Gilas), they are very young now but give them two to three more years and they will be hard to beat,” he added. – Joey Villar