Gilas beats N. Zealand team; Iran unscathed in Jones Cup
Locked and loaded from beyond the arc, Gilas-Pilipinas national team turned back the Tab Baldwin-mentored Hawkes Bay Hawks 82-78 Friday night to get its six-game tune-up grind going at the Hastings Sports Centre in Napier, New Zealand.
National team coach Chot Reyes, through his personal Twitter account @coachot, admitted the Nationals had a tough time dealing with the Bay Hawks’ two imports Darko Cohaderevic and Kareem Johnson but their outside shooting spelled the big difference.
Tough W vs Hawk today, 82-78. Imports Darko & Kareem Johnson outplayed Marcus, but our outside shooting was on target. Need more D work tho
— Chot Reyes (@coachot) July 12, 2013
Eager to reach their razor-sharp form heading into next month’s 27th FIBA-Asia cage championships in Manila, the Nationals try to re-assert their mastery on the Bay Hakws anew on Saturday before testing their mettle against the National Basketball League All-Stars on Sunday.
Gilas Pilipinas then takes a one-day breather before taking on the Wellington Saints on July 16, the Super City Rangers on July 17 and the New Zealand national cage pool.
While the Nationals are in the midst of a 10-day training camp in Napier, their formidable rivals in the Manila joust are sizing each other up in the ongoing 35th William Jones Cup in Hsinchuang Stadium in Taiwan.
As of Friday night, two-time FIBA-Asia champion Iran remains unscathed after six games while South Korea, another powerhouse team, is running at second with a 6-1 mark and host Taiwan-A at third with a 4-2 record.
Armed with one of the continent’s most feared lineup, the Iranians cruised to a quick 3-0 start, beating Jordan (64-57), Taiwan-B (77-64) and Egypt (90-54) in convincing fashion.
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Ranged against the erstwhile unscathed South Koreans, intimidating 7-foot-2 center Hamed Haddadi, who plays for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA, threw his full weight around, dominating with 34 points and 15 rebounds while leading the Iranians to a thrilling 71-68 win last Wednesday.
Iran essayed its fifth consecutive victory with a 60-55 decision over Japan then hardly broke a sweat in dumping USA’s Pro Basketball Alumni 86-62, with Haddadi scoring 25 markers.
Despite its loss against Iran, South Korea, also a former two-time Fiba-Asia champion, appears headed in the right direction.
Beefed up by two naturalized player candidates in Lee Seung-jun (Eric Sandrin) or Moon Tae-young (Greg Stevenson), the South Koreans sauntered past Egypt (80-63), Taiwan-B (81-60), USA (85-79) and Lebanon (61-52).
A day absorbing a three-point defeat dealt by Iran, SoKor quickly recovered its bearings with an impressive 67-57 win over Jordan then extended Japan’s misery to six staright games with a 75-66 victory.
Also making big progress are the Taiwanese, thanks to the addition of naturalized power forward Quincy Davis.
The 6-foot-9 Davis averaged 14.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in leading Taiwan-A to back-to-back wins over Japan (70-62) and the US squad (89-84). Davis also came up with 23 markers and eight rebounds but Taiwan-A still fell prey to Lebanon 63-83 last Monday.
The Taiwanese, however, quickly got back on track by essaying another two straight wins, a 91-61 thrashing of the Jordanians and a thrilling 90-89 decision against the country’s Team B.
Taiwan, however, was caught napping by Egypt, which eked out a stunning 72-62 win Friday to improve its record to 4-3.
The 10-day tournament ends on July 15, with the best finisher eventually clinching the title.
