CHINESE TAIPEI– Smart Gilas Pilipinas finally pierced Iran’s veil of invincibility as it hammered out a convincing 73-59 victory last night to jumpstart its ambitious title campaign in the William Jones Cup at the Hsinchuang Stadium in New Taipei City here.
Naturalized Marcus Douthit held his own against 7-2 Memphis Grizzlies big man Hamed Haddadi although it was the Filipinos’ unnerving defense, nifty passing and sweet perimeter shooting that did the trick.
“We know we are good and we proved it on the court today (last night),” said a relieved Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman, who steered this same Iran team that topped the 2007 FIBA-Asia Championship in Tokushima, Japan.
It was Smart Gilas’ first victory over Iran since its victory in last year’s Stankovic Cup in Lebanon – a feat that ended several heartbreaking defeats including one in the semifinals of the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup in Pasig two months ago.
And it came at a time when the Nationals are preparing hard for the FIBA-Asia Championship slated Sept. 15-25 in Wuhan, China where the eventual winner will represent the region in the 2012 London Olympics.
“Our defense was great, it will give the players confidence after facing the toughest defense in this tournament. This win showed that we could compete against anybody in Asia,” said Toroman.
Smart Gilas had its first glimpse of Haddadi, who pounded his way to 25 points including a pair of triples that were the scourge of the Filipinos.
It was, however, the 6-10 Douthit who had the last laugh as he poured in 24 points, mostly on short jumpers and from the free throw line, while outrebounding the taller, bigger Haddadi, 11-9.
“Marcus (Douthit) played great defense, today he did a lot of good things,” said Toroman.
Haddadi’s presence wasn’t enough though to turn the tide as Iran thoroughly missed main men Nikkah Bahrami and Hamed Afagh.
Bahrami is reportedly arriving today to join the team due to personal reasons while Afagh was in uniform but didn’t play because of injury.