Smart Gilas impresses Cone, Toroman

MANILA, Philippines - Coaches Tim Cone and Rajko Toroman have seen and observed Gilas Pilipinas in practice, and liked what they saw.

“I attended a couple of Gilas practices. (I’m) Really impressed by the intensity, chemistry and togetherness of the team,” said Cone on his Twitter account.

Cone was also impressed by coach Chot Reyes whom he described a “great leader.”

Toroman was just as impressed after seeing up close Gilas Pilipinas mangle his Barako Bull team, 84-67, in a tune-up at the Ynares Center in Pasig last Saturday.

Cone and Toroman have expressed confidence the Philippine team would accomplish its mission in the coming 27th FIBA Asia Championship.

The goal is to make the top three in the 16-nation Asian competition to book a berth in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain. For the record, the Philippines has never made it past the Asian basketball stage since the country hosted the 1978 world championship.

The Serbian mentor said Gilas Pilipinas is a real competitive team with able players in all positions.

Toroman said Team Phl has the size, shooters and defenders, making it a complete team capable of matching up with the best of them in the Asian meet slated Aug. 1-11 at the MOA Arena in Pasay and the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.

Cone and Toroman are well familiar with Asian basketball, both having been to continental play. Cone steered the Nationals to bronze-medal finish in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games while Toroman engineered Iran’s FIBA Asia title conquest in 2007 and piloted the Phl team to fourth-place finish in the 2011 Wuhan meet.

The two said Gilas looks well on the right track in its preparation for the Asian World Cup qualifier.

Gilas Pilipinas steps up its buildup as it trains in New Zealand July 9-19.

Meanwhile, center Hamed Haddadi and guard Mahdi Kamrani tossed in 15 points each and forward Nikkhah Bahrami added nine as two-time FIBA Asia champion Iran scored a vengeful 64-57 win over Jordan at the start of the 2013 Jones Cup in Taipei Saturday.

Jordan scuttled Iran’s bid for a third straight FIBA Asia crown in Wuhan, China last year with the Jordanians tripping the Iranians in their quarterfinals matchup.

In the other Jones Cup opening-day games, it was Taipei A over Japan, 70-62, Taipei B over Lebanon, 70-66, and South Korea over Egypt, 80-63.

Naturalized player Jimmy Baxters paced the Jordanians with 23 points versus Iran.

The Taipei national team, meanwhile, also banked heavily on its own naturalized player Quincy Davis (18 points and 12 rebounds) in repulsing Japan.