(From GMA News)
DUBAI — Smart Gilas Pilipinas will need to double up its efforts if it wants to beat Zain of Jordan, one of the strongest teams in the 21st Dubai Invitational.
“Zain is composed of Jordan’s national team, which I think is going to play in the Olympics, plus three American imports," said Gilas coach Rajko Toroman a day after steering the Filipinos to a 77-71 win over Champville of Lebanon.
The Jordanians are one of the teams to watch in this tough 10-day tournament, although they showed some opening game jitters before trouncing Al Nasr of United Arab Emirates, 89-80, in overtime Friday.
Zain drew strength from the 32-point performance of Rasheim Wright, an American-born naturalized Jordanian, and the 15-point, eight-assist effort of Sam Daghlas, a Jordanian who played college ball for Midwestern State.
The Mario Palma-coached Jordanians happened to be bronze medal winners in the 2009 FIBA-Asia Championship in Tianjin, China and qualifiers to the FIBA World Championship in Turkey this August.
What’s even scarier, the Jordanians will parade three huge American reinforcements — former Talk N’ Text import Damien Cantrell, Ashante Johnson and Kendall Dartez.
“If you’re sending your national team, which is one of the best in Asia, and you play with three Americans, imagine what kind of team they are," said Toroman.
Interestingly, the Nationals will be facing the Jordanians for the first time since they were formed two years ago with the ultimate goal of snatching a berth in the 2012 London Olympics.
Smart Gilas, now sporting a 1-1 (win-loss) record, plays Zain on Sunday (9 p.m. Philippine time) and a win will send the former straight to the quarterfinal round and a chance to snare one of the top two seeds in Group B.
Still, Toroman said nothing is impossible especially after coming off a morale-boosting victory over the Fadi El Khatib-led Champville of Lebanon early Saturday.
“The team got the confidence in our win over Lebanon. I hope against Zain, we’ll play better," said Toroman.
Smart Gilas is bracketed with Zain, Champville, Al Nasr of UAE and Al Jalaa of Syria in Group B.
Group A is composed of Riyadi of Lebanon, Mahram of Iran, Al Wahda of Syria, Al Jazeera of Egypt and the UAE national squad. - GMANews.TV
DUBAI — Smart Gilas Pilipinas will need to double up its efforts if it wants to beat Zain of Jordan, one of the strongest teams in the 21st Dubai Invitational.
“Zain is composed of Jordan’s national team, which I think is going to play in the Olympics, plus three American imports," said Gilas coach Rajko Toroman a day after steering the Filipinos to a 77-71 win over Champville of Lebanon.
The Jordanians are one of the teams to watch in this tough 10-day tournament, although they showed some opening game jitters before trouncing Al Nasr of United Arab Emirates, 89-80, in overtime Friday.
Zain drew strength from the 32-point performance of Rasheim Wright, an American-born naturalized Jordanian, and the 15-point, eight-assist effort of Sam Daghlas, a Jordanian who played college ball for Midwestern State.
The Mario Palma-coached Jordanians happened to be bronze medal winners in the 2009 FIBA-Asia Championship in Tianjin, China and qualifiers to the FIBA World Championship in Turkey this August.
What’s even scarier, the Jordanians will parade three huge American reinforcements — former Talk N’ Text import Damien Cantrell, Ashante Johnson and Kendall Dartez.
“If you’re sending your national team, which is one of the best in Asia, and you play with three Americans, imagine what kind of team they are," said Toroman.
Interestingly, the Nationals will be facing the Jordanians for the first time since they were formed two years ago with the ultimate goal of snatching a berth in the 2012 London Olympics.
Smart Gilas, now sporting a 1-1 (win-loss) record, plays Zain on Sunday (9 p.m. Philippine time) and a win will send the former straight to the quarterfinal round and a chance to snare one of the top two seeds in Group B.
Still, Toroman said nothing is impossible especially after coming off a morale-boosting victory over the Fadi El Khatib-led Champville of Lebanon early Saturday.
“The team got the confidence in our win over Lebanon. I hope against Zain, we’ll play better," said Toroman.
Smart Gilas is bracketed with Zain, Champville, Al Nasr of UAE and Al Jalaa of Syria in Group B.
Group A is composed of Riyadi of Lebanon, Mahram of Iran, Al Wahda of Syria, Al Jazeera of Egypt and the UAE national squad. - GMANews.TV
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