Gilas 5 departs for Asiad cage war

MANILA, Philippines - Gilas Pilipinas went on with its workout even with a large part of the metropolis submerged in water Friday and held one final practice at the Meralco gym yesterday morning before finally departing for Incheon, Korea.

It is determined to nail a continental crown that has eluded the country for over half a decade now.

The Nationals skipped the opening ceremonies Friday night to purposely have two extra practices at home capping a weeklong training for the Asiad that comes on the heels of Team Phl’s stint in the 2014 FIBA World Cup over in Spain.

Coach Chot Reyes and his troops couldn’t afford to take a rest especially with the adjustments they have to make on Marcus Douthit’s entry in place of Andray Blatche.

“Leaving for Korea in a bit. Sad to see d last practice of this team here on home soil. They’ve served d country well,” said the Gilas coach on his Twitter account a few hours before eventually leaving the country.

“Pulling up to the airport. Korea bound. Hope to make the country proud as we take part in the 2014 Asian Games,” said versatile Fil-Am player Gabe Norwood on his own Twitter account.

Gilas Pilipinas along with host Korea, title holder China and FIBA Asia Championship titlist Iran are the teams fancied to figure in the Incheon medal plays.

Iran hotshot Samad Nikkhah Bahrami, meanwhile, went as far as predicting their team winning the gold.

“We are going to win the Asian Games for the first time. Without a doubt, the Iranian basketball team will participate in the Asian Games to win the gold medal,” said Bahrami in a Tehran Times report.

“We want to help our delegation to move up in the standings table with our gold,” he added.

Iran reached the finals of each of the last four FIBA Asia Championships, winning in 2007, 2009 and 2013, but has remained in search of a first Asiad gold.

In Guangzhou in 2010, Iran suffered a humbling loss to Jordan in the quarterfinal round. It should be one of Iran’s biggest motivations to do well in Incheon.

Bahrami acknowledged though that they have tough rivals in the Filipinos and the Koreans.

“South Korea and the Philippines are our main opponents in the competition. However, we are well prepared for the games since we have recently participated in the FIBA World Cup,” he said.

Iran finished 20th, a notch ahead of the Philippines, in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.  

During the World Cup, Iranian playmaker Mahdi Kamrani said: “We are trying to keep our players healthy as our main focus is the Asian Games. That is an incredibly important tournament for us.

“It is not a personal goal, but winning the gold medal at the Asian Games is extremely important for Iran,” he added.