Lebanon Five Beat Smart Gilas Gains Semis

The Smart Gilas Pilipinas yielded to the tournament’s defending champion Al-Riyadi in a hardly-fought and very close battle for a finals berth of the 21st Dubai Invitational. The Lebanon side score a nail-biting 79-76 victory over the Philippine squad. The repulsed RP team however gained respect they deserved, as they bowed to their rivals after giving their all-out effort and their heart. The Philippine quintet almost pulled the rug over their opponents which is beefed by American imports. With the numerous Filipino migrant workers rooting for the Smart Gilas team and providing some measure of morale support (the sitting capacity of the stadium here is about 5,000 and a third of this are Filipinos), the Philippine team pushed the favored Lebanese to the hilt. as it even lead the game nine-point with less than four minutes left in the contest. The Lebanese unleashed a ferocious stance in the crucial minutes as they whipped out the zone very well to take control of the game, and eventually wrapping up the game over the gritty and feisty Filipinos side. The Lebanese relied heavily on their experience to overcome the Filipinos. RP Serbian coach Rajko Toroman said, “I think experience came into play in this game. They put the zone and we suddenly couldn’t execute’. CJ Giles, the Smart Gilas’ original choice for naturalization scored a game-high 29 points, several of them coming from thunderous dunks.In other semi-final game, the Iranians trounced Al-Jalaa of Syria 95-93 to advance in the finals. The Filipinos lost its two games without their American reinforcement, including a setback to finalist Al Jalaa on their opening game. Smart Gilas also had a shallow bench as its key players were humbled by injuries. Abesent in the game against the Lebanese team were Rabeh Al Husseini and Aldrech Ramos, while players with injuries includes Tiu (left leg), Mark Barocca (back), Dylan Ababou(nose), Jason Ballesteros (left shoulder), JV Casio (contusion) and Japeth Aguilar (recovering from dengue). Toroman said, “Our problem is lack of ceiling we don’t have too much inside game, and that’s really a big problem. I think thought that Jason and Greg gave their all,” and  he added, “Lebanon has two NBA players, lots of Americans, lots of national players, that’s why I told the players not to be disappointed. e have to be proud of and I’m proud of them because they showed that for 10 months they would be very competitive in Asia.”

The semi-final score

Al-Riyadi 79- Giles 29, Colson 20, El Turk, Mahmoud 8, Frieje 7, Vogel 3, Ahmed 3

Smart Gilas – Baracael 23, Tiu 17, Casio 17, Barroca 8, Lassiter 7, Ballesteros 4, Aguilar 4, Ababou 3, Slaughter 0

Smart Gilas Five Faces Al Riyadi of Lebanon

The Philippine Smart Gilas basketball team continues to make ripples as they are gearing to clinch the finals berth against very tough and top favorite Al Riyadi of Lebanon in the semifinal phase of the 21st Dubai Invitational at the Al Ahli Indoor Stadium. Lacking in height and hampered by injuries of some key players, the Filipinos compensate with their speed, outside sniping and a big fighting heart. The Filipinos added a heftier Al Jazeera of Egypt side to it growing list of victims. Playing with a high-octane offense and gutsy defensive plays the Filipinos rallies tenaciously in the crucial stretch as they overcome a 15 point deficit and eventually wrapping the game with a dramatic 82-78 win to set up a semif-final duel with the fancied Al Riyadi team.

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RP Smart Gilas Team Still Unbeaten in Australia

The Philippine Smart Gilas basketball team continues to show vast improvement and devastating form as it nailed its third win in four game by clobbering and outgunning the heftier and taller Canberra Gunners at the Belconnen Basketball Stadium in Canberra, Australia.

Feisty UST upstart Dylan Ababou scored a game-high 20 points with five three-pointers to lead the offensive charge of the Philippine team to notch its third win and preserving a lean slate in the six-game Aussie tour.

The gutsy Filipino side, already secured victories over the Australia’s Under 19-Squad, 78-67, Australia Team B 79-73 and drew with AIS 73 all.

The team is coached by the impressive Serbian Rajko Toroman, who played a big part in steering the Iranian national basketball quintet in the last Olympics held in Beijing.

The RP squad scorched its latest Aussie victim with series of outside shooting, scoring a remarkable 15 three-pointers even as Mac Baracael chipped in 15 points while team leader Christian Tiu posted 14 points to reinforce the heroics of Ababou’s in the game.

New Candidate for Naturalization gets an Acid Test

What the RP Gilas Team lacks may amply be provided by a new prospect in banger Durian Townes. Lumbering at 6 foot 10, Townes who weights 550 pounds is a mainstay of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. Townes’ heft and size may add ceiling to the relatively small RP quintet as well as intimidation inside the paint. He suited up with Utah Flash in the United States National Developmental League recently. Townes averaged 10 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 132 games in four years (2004 to 2008) with the Razorbacks in the US NCAA.
The Philippines recently finished third in the Dubai with its import not contributing well to the team. He has cameo roles during the tournament and even sidelined twice in the tournament because of a sore knee. The Philippines is running against time to beef up its lineup with an American import that will undergo naturalization process.

Smart Gilas Bronze Medal Finish Glitters Like Gold

Smart Gilas Pilipinas final push for a breakthrough was indeed startling as they hack out an impressive 107-98 victory over their early tormentor Al Jalaa of Syria to finish their Middle East caging campaign in  the 21st  Dubai International Tournament joust with fireworks and jubilation. The Filipinos wound up third and they just won for themselves a bronze medal  in a very tough field. This is indeed fitting for a country longing for a worldwide recognition that is long overdue. The win catapulted the Philippines in the Asian basketball again before throngs of Filipino workers who witnessed the game with gusto.

Marnel Baracael collected 26 points while Mark Barroca chipped in  18 of his 21 points in the last quarter for the Philippines quintet. The Filipinos made a remarkable 18 straight freethrows in the crucial minutes of the game then posted an impressive 40  points in the fourth quarter, to subdue their Middle East counterparts. Mark Barrocca’s ferocious plays truly guided the RP Smart Gilas in dismantling the Al Jalaa of Syria, black and blue as they avenged their early loss by handing the Syrian a  resounding beating in their bronze medal match. Barroca converted a trey beyond the rainbow arc that allowed the importless Filipino squad take control of the game in the last two minutes.  The desperate Syrians used hacking tactics to virtually stop the clock in their favor, but the Filipinos with nerves of steel made 18 free throws to foil any chance the Syrians have in the game.

“We’re disappointed after the loss (in their semifinals match with Al-Riyadi). But we recovered pretty well and showed mental toughness in the end,”  RP coach Rajko Toroman said.

Freethrows by Japeth Aguilar and Chris Tiu finally gave the Filipinos the lead, 78-76. Barroca then unleashed a lethal trey and Baracael converted his freethrows in the charity stripe to send the their opponents in fouling the Filipinos, after leading by six at 89-83.

Iran’s Mahram subdued Al Riyadi of Lebanon, 85-67, to bag the much-coveted crown in the finals match of the tournament. Samad Bahrami bagged the MVP  plum whilst Smart Gilas’ JV Casio captured  guard award and former Smart Gilas import CJ Giles of Al Riyadi was heralded as the best center.

Serbian coach said  “This tournament allowed us to earn the respect of the other Asian teams”. Toroman also thanked the Filipino crowd for their not wavering support to the RP quintet side.

Toroman again didn’t use naturalization candidate Jamal Sampson for the game. The Philippines lost its two previous games with Sampson not playing in the game. Instead the Serbian coach who steered the Iranian National team to the Olympics last year relied heavily on Japeth Aguilar, Greg Slaughter and Jason Ballesteros to control the center against the taller and heftier the Syrians which is reinforced by seven-footer Zendon Hamilton, 6-foot-10 Garnett Thompson and guard Demetric Shaw. Also the formidable Syrian team also boasts three Brazilian-Syrians in 6-10 Marcelle Correa, 6-11 Eder Gorges  and Michael Maadanli, who collected 23 points for the losing Al Jalaa. The Smart Gilas team lost to Al Jalaa in its opening game, 76-90.

The Filipinos however recovered fast as they posted sweet victories over Champville of Lebanon 77-71, Zain 85-82, and Al Nasr of the UAE 79-72.

The Nationals trounced Al Jazeera of Egypt in the quarterfinals 82-78, but was beaten by the defending champion Al Riyadi of Lebanon in the semi-final.

 The Scores:

SMART GILAS 107—Baracael 26, Barroca 21, Tiu 12, Aguilar 10, Casio 10, Lassiter 9, Cawaling 9, Balesteros 4, Slaughter 4, Ababou 0.

AL JALAA 98—Maadanli 23, Correa 18, Shaw 16, Hamilton 10, Gorges 9, Al Sharif 8, Thompson 7, Meraneh 5, Papazian 2.

Quarter Scores: 18-26, 40-48, 67-

70, 107-98

Smart Gilas Five Enter Quarter Finals in Dubai Caging

The Philippine Smart Gilas continues to bowl over fancied teams in the 21st Dubai Invitational Basketball at the Al Ahli Indoor Stadium in Dubai. The team which is composed of young players and beefed up by an import that will be inevitably naturalized into a Filipino citizen overcame the highly physical UAE side.

Egged on by Filipino crowd the nationals played big time at the crucial stretch to chalk up their third straight win to enter the quarterfinal phase and erasing further the stigma of getting drubbed by the Syrian Al Jalaa team on its opening game. Read more »