MANILA, Philippines — With a new import and a lineup free of injuries, Smart Gilas-Pilipinas now has the ingredients to come up with a terrific show in the William Jones Cup.
But Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman remained cautious as the Serbian mentor expects rough sailing for the national team in Chinese Taipei’s premier hoop tournament.
“It will really be a big challenge for our team,” said Toroman after Smart Gilas returned to practice Thursday at The Arena in San Juan City to prepare for the July 13 to 21 annual meet.
The RP five took a three-day rest after capturing the 2010 Smart Philippine Invitational Challenge crown at the expense of the Jordan national team on Sunday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Toroman said Iran would field in its national squad, which won the 2007 and 2009 FIBA Asia Championship, instead of its team B.
Aside from winning the Asian championships back-to-back, the Iranian core, which played for Mahram, also successfully defended its FIBA Asia Champions Cup title in Doha, Qatar in May.
Except for the 7-foot-2 Hamed Haddadi, Toroman said the Iranians will go full blast in the Jones Cup with skipper Mehdi Kamrani, the high-scoring Nikkah Samad Bahrami and Hamed Afagh taking the lead.
Haddadi earlier announced that he would miss the Guangzhou Asian Games in November and other tournaments leading to the Asiad after the reigning FIBA Asia MVP decided to join the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA pre-season camp.
Toroman said the national teams of Lebanon, Korea, Japan and host Chinese Taipei would also give Smart Gilas a tough time.
“It’s difficult to assess our chances. The field is strong. We’ll see when we get there,” said Toroman.
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