Serbian coach Rajko Toroman said Iran, not China, is the team to beat next month in the FIBA-Asia Championship in Wuhan, China.

"They’re amazingly strong," said the Smart-Gilas Pilipinas mentor Serbian mentor Rajko Toroman, who once coached the Iranians that won the FIBA-Asia title in 2007 in Tokushima, Japan that earned them an Olympic slot for the first time in 2008 Beijing Games.

Iran boasts of an almost intact lineup led by Hamed Haddadi, the 7-foot-2 center who played three seasons for the Memphis Grizzlies.

In the preliminary rounds of FIBA-Asia, Iran will play in Group B with Qatar, Uzbekistan and Chinese Taipei, while Smart-Gilas is in Group D with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and China. In Group A are Lebanon, India, Malaysia and Korea while in Group C are Japan, Indonesia, Syria and Jordan.

In the previous William R. Jones Cup in Taipei, Smart-Gilas stunned Iran (73-59) with the 26-year-old Haddadi not in his usual game shape after a long layoff, but Iran avenged that setback with a 78-59 win in the semifinals.

Haddadi collected 36 points and eight rebounds with five shot blocks against the Philippines, and followed it up with a 35-point, 18-rebound performance in a 66-59 victory against South Korea in the Finals.

However, Toroman said that Iran will be a different team in Wuhan as compared in the Jones Cup, where they missed the services of injured forward Samad Nikkhah Bahrami and guard Hamed Afagh, while point guard Mahdi Kamrani played sparingly due to a knee injury.

"Except for Haddadi, Iran was more of a defensive team in the Jones Cup," Toroman said. "But their strength will be more on offense with the entry of Samad and Afagh. I think they’ll play less on Hamed, who is spectacular in the Jones Cup." 

source: Waylon Galvez -MB

MANILA—After pulling out of the pocket tournament in Qatar, Smart Gilas Pilipinas is aiming to put together a pair of tuneup games against Jordan and a couple more in China for the PBA stars to blend in before the Fiba Asia Championship.

Philippine five headcoach Rajko Toroman said they would need at least five international games for Talk N Text’s Jimmy Alapag, Kelly Williams and Ranidel de Ocampo to get into the flow in time for the Asian championship in Wuhan, China on September 15-25.

With the sudden exit of Dondon Hontiveros and injuries to guards JV Casio (knee), Chris Lutz (elbow) and team captain Chris Tiu (ankle), Toroman has also enlisted TNT marksman Larry Fonacier and stocky playmaker Ryan Reyes to fill the gaps.

Toroman said the Nationals would enter the final stretch of preparations on August 24 and expect the TNT players to join them on August 29, more than a week’s rest after last night’s Game 7 finale between the Petron Blaze Boosters and the Tropang Texters in the PBA Governors Cup Finals.

Though the target is to play at least 10 international games with the PBA stars prior to Wuhan, Toroman would be satisfied if the Smart Gilas management could come up with five.

He said Jordan would be invited to come over on September 8 or 9 for two games.

Smart Gilas will then fly to China for two-three more friendlies against Chinese ballclubs before opening its Fiba Asia campaign on September 15 opposite United Arab Emirates, which the Filipinos smothered, 95-60, in the recent Jones Cup in Taipei.

“Before, I was talking about 8-10 games but now I will be happy with five,” said Toroman. “I hope we could get those games in China before Fiba Asia.”

The national team was supposed to grind it out in the four-nation Doha meet, which includes Lebanon, Syria and Qatar, this week but begged off since the TNT players couldn’t make it.

The Philippines is bracketed in Group D with host China, Bahrain and UAE in the first round of the Asian championship, which stakes a continental seat to the 2012 London Olympics.

Expected to topple UAE and Bahrain in the preliminaries, the Filipinos will most likely meet Japan, Jordan and Syria in the second round with the top four teams among six qualifiers advancing to the quarterfinals.

source:  June Navarro -Philippine Daily Inquirer

“Sorry guys for all this… I would like to thank MVP [Manuel V. Pangilinan] and his group, especially Coach Rajko [Toroman] for the opportunity,” he wrote.

“And to clarify, I have a great relationship with Coach and I respect him a lot.”

According to Toroman, the 34-year-old Hontiveros asked to leave the team for the sake of his health.

“He thinks he has health issues and he feels tired from the games that he played. I tried to convince him to stay because he is a player with great character and he is a good player,” said the coach.

A source earlier told InterAKTV that Hontiveros had skipped the last two practices of the squad to rest his body from the “wear and tear.” The veteran international campaigner joined SMART-Gilas in the recent Jones Cup tournament, where the team played a brutal schedule of nine games in nine days. Hontiveros played in all nine games.

No issue with Toroman

Hontiveros’ clarification came on the heels of rumors that he quit the team because he had a strained relationship with Toroman.

Quoting an anonymous source, broadcaster Snow Badua on Friday reported on his Twitter account that the two men didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye.

“Pinagalitan kasi ng todo iyan ni Toroman sa isang laro,” Badua quoted his source. “Hindi niya siguro nagustuhan. Matindi kasi magalit si Toroman. Sagad sa buto.”

“Hindi mo masisisi si Dondon Hontiveros. Baka na-offend siya or may personal reason talaga. Pero malaki siyang vacuum sa team.”

Replacement for Dondon

With Hontiveros leaving, Toroman said that they are looking at tapping an additional member of the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters to reinforce the team. Kelly Williams, Jimmy Alapag, and Ranidel de Ocampo are already scheduled to join the squad, with Ryan Reyes and Larry Fonacier being raised as possible candidates to take Hontiveros’ spot.

The Cebuano hotshot, for his part, also has a list of candidates off the top of his mind when it comes to players who can fill his position for the national team.

“James Yap, Ryan Reyes, Larry Fonacier, Gary David, Ronjay Buenafe, Cyrus [Baguio],” he replied when asked by Twitter follower Bernie Banizo about his choices for his replacement.

source: Jaemark Tordecilla -InterAKTV

Smart Gilas-Pilipinas coach Rajko Toroman said a top three finish by his high-profile team is more attainable in this year's William Jones Cup.

"We're hoping to finish in the top three even though we expect a tough field in the Jones Cup. They got to do what they got to do to be able to get the job done," said Toroman.

The Serbian mentor is very calm and confident about his team’s chances in the tournament. He said that they have had good atmosphere during practices and that they are looking forward to the competition as it will serve as a good practice for them and a good measure of their adeptness and character in preparation for September’s FIBA Asia Qualifying Tournament in Wuhan, China for the 2012 London Olympics.

Along with PBA reinforcements Asi Taulava and Dondon Hontiveros, the Nationals will be leaving for the Chinese Taipei capital Friday afternoon via a Philippine Airlines flight where they will be competing with Asian powerhouses like Jordan, Japan, Korea and Iran-teams that both Douthit and Head Coach Rajko Toroman foresee as the toughest test in the said tournament.

But amidst the tough competition, Douthit continues to share the sentiments of Toroman.

“I’ll be disappointed if we did not make top three," said naturalized Center Marcus Douthit when asked about Smart Gilas’ chances in the upcoming Jones Cup.

The 6-foot-11 center shared that their practices have been arduous and almost Herculean- leading him to proclaim that the national team is ready for battle. The starting center disclosed that their biggest challenge would be the continuous game days.



With the withdrawal of South Africa from the competition, the Philippines will now face two-time defending champion Iran on opening day, August 6. The national squad will play against Taiwan, Jordan, Malaysia, Korea, UAE and Japan in that specific order everyday until August 12.

"The Jones Cup would be a good experience for us because we're going to play against strong teams that would make us tougher in time for the Wuhan tournament," said Toroman.

Gilas stalwarts Jayvee Casio and Chris Tiu are also optimistic with their chances.

“All the teams are tough but we need this because we're going to see how other teams play and gauge where the team is. We prepared very hard for this and I know we will not lose sight of the goal and that is to qualify in September," said Casio.

Team captain Chris Tiu adds, "Coach Rajko thinks we have a chance at a top three finish but I'm confident we could be in the top two."

The former Ateneo stalwart is likewise unfazed by reports that Memphis Grizzlies 7-foot-2 center Hamed Haddadi will be suiting up for Iran.

"They say Hamed Haddadi is playing. So if he does, we'll get a glimpse of him when we play Iran in our last game," added Tiu.

Aside from Tiu, Douthit, Casio, Taulava and Hontiveros, others suiting up for the team are Jason Ballesteros, Dylan Ababou, Chris Lutz, Marcio Lassiter, Mac Baracael, Japeth Aguilar, JV Casio and Mark Barroca.

source: Miakka J. Lim/JVP/RAF -GMA News