HSINCHUANG CITY – For Smart Gilas-Pilipinas, back-to-back Fiba-Asia champion Iran remained too tough to beat with only four months before the Asian Games.
Bracing up not just for the Asiad but the World Championship in Turkey in August, Iran made it three-of-three versus Smart Gilas as it scored an 81-68 victory in their match in the 32nd Williams Jones Cup at the Hsinchuang Gymnasium here last night.
The Iranians, then playing under the banner of club team Maram, topped the Filipinos in the Fiba-Asia Champions Cup last year in Jakarta and early this year in Doha, Qatar.
Minus prized center Hamed Haddadi, Iran relied heavily on the exploits of star forward Samad Bahrami and second-string center Asghar Kardoust as they overcame Smart Gilas’ gutsy stand.
The Nationals just kept on fighting till the end and made a good account of themselves despite the setback.
“It was a well-fought match. The intensity of the game was like those played in Fiba-Asia. The will to win was on a high level. We lost but I’m satisfied of the game we played,” said Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman.
“The first five minutes proved to be a big factor. They had a better start but we battled them the rest of the way,” Toroman added.
“We played tough against a team which is veteran of the Olympic Games. When you’ve played against the likes of Yao Ming and Manu Ginobili, you surely have great confidence playing in this level of play,” Toroman also said of the team he steered to the Fiba-Asia championship in Tokushima, Japan in 2007.
Current Iran team coach Vesselin Matic also had good words for Smart Gilas.
“I can see that the Philippines is improving in each game they play,” Matic said.
Matic, however, also stressed they could have done a lot better if not missing some key players, including the 7-foot-2 Haddadi.
“It’s always hard to play your first game in a tournament. And it’s tougher for us just coming from a 36-hour trip from Italy,” said Matic, who also mentioned missing players left in the army and players with problems regarding travel documents.
But just Bahrami, Kardoust and Iman Zandi proved big problems for Smart Gilas.
Bahrami and Zandi, Iran’s deadly wingmen, knocked in three triples each and finished with a combined output of 43 points.
Six-foot-11 Kardoust got 18 points and four rebounds as he ably matched up with Marcus Douthit who collected 16 points and eight rebounds.