source: Joey Villar | philstar.com
DUBAI – Smart Gilas Pilipinas played all-Filipino and stunned former tormentor Al Jalaa of Syria with a flawless shooting from the line, pulling off a 107-98 victory to finish third in the 21st Dubai Invitational at the Al Ahli Indoor Stadium here Saturday.
The gutsy Filipinos unleashed a 40-point effort in the fourth quarter to get back at the Syrians, backstopped by three Americans and three Brazilian-Syrians, who trounced the former, 90-76, in the opener of the tournament last week.
Mac Baracael fired 26 points, Mark Barroca broke out of a slump and scattered 18 of his 21 points in the last period while skipper Chris Tiu canned all his 12 charities to help power the Filipinos to an impressive third place finish in the tournament they could’ve won if not for a fourth quarter meltdown in their 76-79 loss to Al Riyadi of Lebanon in the semis Friday.
“I know you saw we have great character, they are fighters even if we were down because of yesterday’s (Friday’s) loss,” said Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman.
“We have to show mental toughness now after the loss to Al Riyadi but I think in the second half we showed wonderful basketball, a lot of aggressiveness, a lot of intensity.
“I have to congratulate the players and I’m thanking them for everything that they did here,” said Toroman.
Al Jalaa’s Demetric Shaw, a former Kent St. standout, headed straight to RP’s locker room after the game to personally congratulate the Filipinos in behalf of his team.
“In behalf of my team, congratulations, you played with a big heart, you’re the best team here,” he said.
Tiu said Smart Gilas gained more in losing to Al Riyadi, who eventually lost to Mahram of Iran, 67-85, in their title match.
“Even if we didn’t make the finals, the lessons learned, the experience gained are something that really can be very useful for us in the future and coming tournaments,” said Tiu.
“These teams are mostly national players from Asia reinforced with three imports plus naturalized players, it’s a very tough competition but we still finished third, I’m proud of the team,” he said.
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Noli Eala said Smart Gilas’ third place finish is a strong indicator that the country’s quest for a berth in the 2012 London Olympics is on the right track.
“It’s a major, major achievement and affirmation of the program that we have. It shows that I think the system of coach Toroman works, the players have adapted well to the system, we’re making progress especially since in this tournament we practically played with an all-Filipino lineup.
“My hats off to coach Rajko and all the players who sacrificed to be here and I think they have all matured and more importantly they gained a lot of confidence with this victory,” Eala said.
Like in its first outing, Al Jalaa came out strong and dominated the first 30 minutes of play.
During the stretch, the Syrians, who dropped a 92-94 setback to Mahram in the semis on a triple by Samad Nikkah Bahrami in the dying seconds, posted leads of as many as 35-23 in the third period.
But the Filipinos, whose campaign was sponsored by Smart and backed by Nike and GMA Pinoy TV, fought back behind Baracael, Barroca and Tiu, who knocked all their 22 free throw attempts, including 18 straight in the last two minutes to complete the stirring come-from-behind victory.
Smart Gilas notes: The Nationals left Dubai Sunday and will make a brief stop in Doha, Qatar before flying home to Manila where they are expected to arrive early Monday...JV Casio was picked as the best guard of the tournament, joining Sama Nikkah Bahrami of Mahram of Iran and former RP naturalization candidate CJ Giles of Al Riyadi of Lebanon, who were named MVP and best center, respectively, in the top roster...
The scores:
Smart Gilas 107 - Baracael 26, Barroca 21, Tiu 12, Aguilar 10, Casio 10, Lassiter 9, Cawaling 9, Ballesteros 4, Slaughter 4, Ababou 2.
Al Jalaa 98 - Maadanli 23, Correa 18, Shaw 16, Hamilton 10, Gorges 9, Al Sharif 8, Thompson 7, Meraneh 5, Papazian 2.
Quarterscores: 18-26, 40-48, 67-70, 107-98
BATTLE FOR 3RD: (Video)
Smart Gilas def. Al Jalaa Syria, 107-98
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Awarding Ceremony (Video)
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CONGRATZ...cHRIS LUTZ, HUSSAINI, EARL BARRON/SHAWN PRUITT...GO GO GO.4
IT'S ABOUT TIME FOR THR PBA COACHES TO UNDERGO TRAINING AND COACHING LESSON FROM COACH TOROMAN TO UPGRADE THE LEVEL OF PLAY IN THE PBA.
palitan na c sampson..c hasheem thabeet ang pwede ipalit kay sampson..athletic at bata pa galing pa mag laro 7'3'' lang naman ung hieght..
c mike tisdale nalang 7'1'' o kaya c brian carlwell 6'11'' puro defensive player ung dalawa..un nalang kunin ng gilas..
YENG GUIAO SHOULD OFFER APOLOGIES TO COACH TOROMAN FOR HIS UNCALLED FOR REMARKS.
We should not let the PBA again to represent as a National Team. Binigyan nyo ng kahihiyaan ang ating bansa.
sa Lebanon, there is Future TV or LBC TV. laging pinapalabas ang laro ng Lebanese basketball team kahit saan sila pumunta.
sana sa pinas meron din tayo Sports Chanel na committed sa National team. sa tingin ko ngaun napakaraming pinoy ang nagsusubaybay sa kahihinatnan ng Smart Gilas Team lalo na now naq maganda ang pinakita nilang laro sa Dubai. This TV companies in the philippines i think they are not good business thinkers. akala nila d sila makakakuha ng sponsor pag National team ang ipalabas...They are Wrong...with all this emotions na napupuno. We filipinos are hungry of International Fame lalo na sa Basketball. how many of us are more Basketball fanatics rather than Boxing fanatics??? i bet more on the former. the Samrt Gilas team is a young Many Pacquiao in the making....u just can't realize it.. kala nyo wala pera dito.
SALAMAT NA RIN SA MGA BAYANING OFWS NA NAG TITYAGA MAG UPLOAD NG VIDEOS NG MGA LARO PARA LNG MAKAPANOOD ANG NAKAKARAMI. AT HINDI UMAASA SA KWENTO NA LAMANG.
LET US IMPROVE OUR LIVE STREAMING PARA MA UPDATE TAYO LAHAT SA LIVE NA LARO. KAHIT MABAGAL SA INTERNET YAN LNG ANG PEDE.
ABS AT GMA????? U FAILED THE FILIPINO PEOPLE.
MAS IMPORTANTE PA SA INYO IPAKITA MGA SHOWS NA NAG POPROMOTE NG IMMORALITY.
galing mo Jv Casio...kaw pinakamaliit sa lahat ng point guards... u deserve it. u proven ur critics wrong na ang maliit na point guard ay d pede sa international basketball.
actually i watched the game live in dubai. ung mga ibang teams ang nag adjust sau. they fielded smaller point guards too to counter check ur speed. d nila masyado ginamit mga taller guards nila. u dictated the game.
Monstrous performance from Barroca and Baracael!
Sobrang improved si Baracael...
IDOL!
mental toughness is the major handicap of pba back national teams...tama dapat i adopt ang international brand of coaching and european style of basketaball sa pba..para ma-upgrade ang level ng play sa pba..puro kc raw na fil-am ang naglalaro sa pba.
Congrazt eto sila Pare Chris at JV
RakenROL
congrats
Even if it's 3rd place only, what's more important is that they've gained a lot of experience in terms of playing in tough international competitions. Playing all Filipino and beating a taller, heftier and import laced team like Syria is no easy feat. Just goes to show that Toroman's system is working and as other people would put it the "untalented", "amateur", Gilas players are adopting well into coach Rajko's system. Just goes to show that winning does not depend on pure talent alone. I wish Smart Gilas all the best and keep on playing hard.
We can say that International FIBA type of play is where we Asians have chance to bloom since we are not naturally gifted with height and built compared to our western counterparts. And more excitingly to watch because it's mixed shooting, tough plays all with speed compared to lousy one-on-one match-up always. If just our PBA have played under FIBA rule eversince, we may have mastered its every corner competitively. Chinese have succeed on it and Koreans also done it, its time we Pinoys adopt to it. just my 2 cents ---rockman6@SG
they should give more playing time to aguilar and slaughter so that they can develop their skills...they should also invite guys like williams,washington,norwood and eman to practice with them during the off-season of the pba so that they will be acquainted with toroman's system... this will give them the knowledge about the smart gilas way of playing basketball and this will help them adjust to the system if ever they choose to play for gilas in the 2011 fiba-asia championships...
IMPRESSIVE OUTSIDE AND FREETHROW SHOOTING. THESE THINGS MAY BE LITTLE, BUT THAT HELPED WIN THE GAME.
THEY SAY THE PBA HAS A LOT OF TALENT, YET THEY LOSE INTERNATIONAL GAMES TO MERE POOR OUTSIDE AND FREETHROW SHOOTING. AGREE?
GO GO GO TOROMAN, MANNY PANGILINAN, EALA, THE BOYS, AND THE REST OF THE CREW. YOU MAKE US ALL PROUD!
GO PINOY!
@ anon 1:03 AM:::gusto kc pba na maging NBA OF ASIA cla kaya gaya ng gaya cla sa nba,,e ang layo naman ng mga talents nila both players and coaches...dapat sa asian basketball muna sila magpakitang gilas kaso di makaporma pba sa asian teams,,,mahilig kasi sa porma players and coaches kaya ayon hanggang porma lang - kulelat...hehe...ang mga smart gilas players unti unti nang nakikilala sa asian basketball circuit dahil sa pinakita nila...kaya lets give support to gilas...go go go smart gilas!!!
agila dabaw
that is the best finish by a team that played without either an import or a naturalized player, but i suggest former best import of PBA team ginebra chris alexander as the best chance to be a naturalized player , he is 7-1 with a leaping ability and mobility , he can block shots and run the floor and a truly professional
OLYMPIC????? must be dreaming....
naturalize na hindi 60 yrs old, chris lutz, fajardo (aabot pa cguro to) at slasher 6'6" -6'8" na lng kulang para sa team nato..phew excited na ako ma kumpleto line up nang gilas ... go gilas
3rd place we can do better. i agree that na wala tayo outside shooting ewan ko lng sa smart gilas. wala rin tayo height nung powerade ang team at walang outside shooting. ngayon sa gilas may height na tayo ewan ko lng sa outside shooting. yan kulang satin height at outside shooting. go slaugther we need you from the inside at si ballesteros malakas daw sa inside go go go laban ng laban from the inside. now we have the height call na ng guards natin. i trust our players that we can win it. go go go!
SMART GILAS GETS FULL SUPPORT FROM "KAPUSO" GMA7?????..WHAT ABOUT US???...THE FANS OF GILAS FROM THE "HOME" COUNTRY??????
since nagsimula ang tourney sa dubai 2 beses palang naipalabas sa news nila about what happen with the gilas... YAN BA TINATAWAG NA SUPORTA???? mag isip nga kayo GMA7...bigay nyo nalang yan sa ABS CBN...mukhang mas may K sila na magcover sa mga ganyan...kayo kasi pag hindi pa sikat di nyo kinucover...right???...tingnan nyo c pacman,,,kundi sumikat nang husto di nyo pinansin????...kapal muks kayo GMA7...tiyaga na nga lang kami kahit livestream via webcam...buti nalang may mga OFW an may "PUSO",,, di kagaya nyo "WALANG PUSO"...
check out: http://www.gmanews.tv/video/sports/0
vin-dvo
Anonymous // January 25, 2010 10:35 AM
OLYMPIC????? must be dreaming....
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Hindi masamang mangarap kung sinasabayan ng pagsisikap, sakripisyo at puso na ipinapakita ng smart gilas team. ang hindi nangangarap, walang nararating. kung nakapasok na ang philippine basketball team sa olympics dati, bakit imposible naman ngayon with the right coach, right players, right program and right motivation. mabuhay ang smart gilas team!
hays diba unanag salang palang may napatunayan na agad .. hmm.. go go go gilas ...!! pakitaan nyo lahat cla .. hays nc1 ..
If we could make it to the Olympics and some of our players made an impact, an then a job is offered in the NBA, maybe it would be the 1st time that a fullblooded filipino make it to the NBA. Kon si baracael ay na discover nang Egypt baka madiscover uli siya or any others guys from the team to the NBA.
Dapat my coverage sa lahat ng national teams sa sports. lalo na sa basketball.
watch my commercials.
puyat ako pag aabang palagi nang laro nang smart gilas sa internet, pba fans ako dati crispa at toyota kahit teen ager pa ako noon, pero nang nagsimula nang matalo ang PBA, hindi ko inaksaya ang aking panahon para manood, ngayon nabuhayan ako nang loob sa mga Smart Gilas players galing talaga ni coach toroman, at ni noli eala na utak nito, at sa support ni manny pangilinan for Vice President muna kahit sino itapat niya kahit gaano kapangit ang mga pintas sa kanya, iboboto ko talaga ito si manny.
let me correct myself nung powerade pla tayo may height tayo outside shooting pla ang wala. nalito kasi ako nung william jones kasi meron si ranidel 65 lng sya kaya hinanap ko ang height. outside shooting ang kailangan natin. go go go!
sana manalo ako sa lotto. lol.
walang silbi GMA7
Wow! London 2012? Well who knows?!! This is the beauty of sports, the drama the excitement! I agree dun sa nagpost about sa TV coverage. hey ABS GMA, palabas kayo ng palabas ng walang kakwenta kwentang mga telenovela, eto ang tunay na telenovela! Human drama at its best. Man's infinite unrelenting will to succeed even in the face of defeat!
Laban Smart Gilas!! Pag pumasok kayo sa Olympics pupunta din ako ng London to cheer you guys! :)
nice..... go smart gilas ......
i am not impress wid fajardo...he is so lanky and cant play outside....japet is bettr i think....
@ezekiel - Nanood ako ng live dito sa dubai malakas tayo sa 1 2 3 position kulang tayo sa 4 and 5. Yung nag papanalo sa atin ay determinasyon, puso, bilis, coach at si Baracael!
Good addition though si fajardo if he will train and improve because of his height. Even if he will just be a reserve Gilas player now, in the future he can replace out-going Gilas players. In 3 years time if he trains hard now and with coach T system, no doubt he will be a matured player for Gilas second generation's RP team.
Eman, fajardo and Yancy are rare tall gifted filipinos who if not tapped, tried, and trained with the proper basketball fundamentals for big men, will just remain a potential local tall players.
Yes, we are spending lots of dollars for imports for naturalization yet unsure if they will serve for the long term purpose, why not spare some of the expense to these young potential filipino big men?
I'm sure, the Peso investment for the 3 players combined will never exceed the dollars to be spent for one (1) American import.
Sa Korea kahit abno si HA ginastosan, pinagtiyagaan at trained maging national player. Sa Fiba Asia, during the tournament na coach si Jong Uchico ng RP, tinalo ng HA led Korean national team ang Yao Ming led team sa championship.
Sayang nga lang nagmintis si Racela sa free throw at that particular time.
But yes, isang halimbawa si HA na ang local big men na Pinoy ay puede ring i-train.
sa syria lang pwede magka offer c baracael.. ang syria po ay isa sa mahinang team sa fiba asia
Oi Slaughter!
Ayusin mo naman.
Kung hindi maasahan si Jamal.
Dapat nag-step-up ka!
Anyways, Congrats and Goodluck sa SMART GILAS!
*Ang lufet ni Baracael para syang Kyun-Eun Moon ng South Korea, yun shooter na mas-lufet pa kay Allan Caidic.
Sa PBA, kung hindi ka talented big man at the time of drafting/joining, to improve para maging star player is rare. Siyempre professional coaches will always field in the talented lesser big man because opposing teams have the same player size. That's the reason why we never had a key big men na star at nag improve sa PBA.
Unlike sa Gilas because they play with national teams with real big men, the focus of the national team trainors are to improve the big men position para sa tough match-up.
Kaya SBP siguro dapat pag isipan kung pano kukunin potential big men at isama sa national team training pool. Sina Eman, Yancy at Fajardo ay mga pinoy na tall players. Di masyadong kawalan sa PBA pero mas kailangan ng Gilas. Siguro sa training program at sistema ni Coach T may mapapakinabangan sa tatlo sa nalalapit na Asian games.
Anonymous // January 25, 2010 10:35 AM
OLYMPIC????? must be dreaming....
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Si Pacquiao nung bata bata at lumalaban sa 105-120 divisions..ganyan din ang sinasabi ng iilan...
Pound 4 Pound King??? Boxing Hall of Fame??? must be dreaming...
E asan si Pacquiao ngayon..Pound4Pound King at Boxing Hall of Fame na.
So was Paeng, so was Bata and Janggo, So is Wesley So ngayon, Joey Antonio, Torres at iba pa.
Tama ang sinabi nung isang sumagot sayo, di masama mangarap lalo't sinasamahan ng pagpupursigi at sikap.
The desire to give your country glory and recognition is a very strong motivator to strive hard to acheive greatness.
Mahal ng Pinoy ang mga atleta na may pusong lumalaban lalo't para ito sa karangalan ng bayan..kaya kahit papanu madami bumilib sa Smart Gilas sa ngayon dahil nakita nila ito sa kanila na wala sa Poweraide dati.
O edi tama nga sabi dati ng ibang kritiko nung panahon ng FIBA sa Taijin China.
Basics, impeccable shooting both outside and in the freethrow area, cohesive teamwork, a good system and a lot of HEART can take you anywhere.
Slowly nakukuha na ng mga bata ang mga to pwera nalang syempre ang usaping height unless makaimbento tayo ng matindi pa sa Cherifer nya ha ha.
Pero kung isipin sa 1,2 and maybe 3 position very competitive na tayo (kung magtutuloy tuloy ang accuracy sa shooting, ballhandling and maturity) sa 4 and 5 positions mejo kulang pa.
Pero kung say bumilis lang ang kilos ng mga No.4 pwede din icompensate siguro nito ang kakulangan sa No.5 (though maganda padin me natural Center for defensive and rebounding purposes)
Imaginin nyo mga katoto me mga bata tayo na nasa No.4 position na mabibilis kumilos, accurate ang shooting at matitigas ang katawan sa banggaan tignan ko lang kung di iikot mga tumbong ng ibang Asian teams kahit me mala Yao Ming pa sila.
Tapos dagdag nalang tayo ng isang matangkad na Import...say si Dwight Howard....patay silang lahat! nya ha ha ha! joke lang wishfull thinking lang po :)
roach and toroman open the door for a new pinoy global invasion in sports..
ABS,GMA ,CS9,TV5 MGA WALANG KWENTA...IBASURA...teMPILIPINas.info...mabuhay!!!!
MAHIYA NAMAN KAYO GMA-7 NAGPASA-SABI PA NA ALL OUT SUPPORT KUNO SA GILAS EH YUNG SIMPLENG PAGCOVER LANG WALA CLANG GINAWA.
MAHIYA NAMAN KAYO, ORDINARY OFW PA ANG NAGPROVIDE NG LIVE STREAMING SA KAGUSTOHAN LANG MAIPANOOD DIN SA IBANG NAG-AABABANG NA MAPANOOD. HINDI BA KAYO MAHIYA ORDINARY OFW NA WALNG KAKAYAHAN LABAN SA NETWORK NYO AY TINALO PA KAYO! NO WONDER HINDI NYO MATALO ANG ABS-CBN!
recruit ng gilas c jason smith as import,,, 7 ft na PF,,,he is playing 4 sixers
Maybe we can invite some seven footers from Serbia. There are lots of big young men there with lots of potentials and who play the FIBA brand of basketball. They can easily adapt to Coach Toroman's system. Besides, these guys won't be asking so much compensation as those American imports do and they still have much to prove to ask for some higher price.
Fajardo has outside shooting,,plus low post..with high percentage in terms of blocks and free throws...
SABI NG GMA-7 AY FULL SUPPORT DAW CIA SA SMART GILAS TEAM. SINO ANG NILOLOKO MO? MAHIYA KA NAMAN!
steroid ang naturalize player. daya yan eh. ok lng sa coach kasi di nmn naglalaro eh advice lng sya. kaya natin yan china nga ala naturalize player kaso 1 billion sila pati korea ala rin hayaan nyo na ang arab countries di nmn mahilig ata sa basketball yan eh gusto lng nila manalo kaya ginagawa nila yan. kaya natin yan we have the height training lng siguro parang ok nmn si slaugther at fajardo double double sila sa pccl kaya umiscore at rumibound. im against naturalize kasi daya sa tingin ko. steroid sila.
OUR RESPECTFUL HEROES :
1. Mr. Danding Cojuanco
2. Coach Ron Jacobs
3. Ron Jacobs' National Team Players
4. Sam Miguel Corp. (Sponsored the N.T.)
5. Mr. Manny Pangilinan and Mr. Noli Eala
6. Coach Rajko Toroman
7. Gilas Team Players
8. SMART Telecom (Sponsor the N.T.)
9. All Staff & Crews of our National teams
japeth n junmar play different...aguilar s sf w/ d height of frontliner while fajardo plays d 4&5 position...ja s already in d team...f sbp can sign-up jf n d gilas team he can add ceiling wc our national team s needed...
ONWARDS TO FIBA ASIA 2011 !!!!
Do we have any new development with the recruitment of Junmar Fajardo? If none, our desire to have him in the Smart Gilas team is futile. The culprit here is not Junmar Fajardo, but University of Cebu, in fact he dreamed of playing with the RP team, but he has an existing contract with UC, and that's the reason because UC is not amenable with the idea.
Iboycott ninyo yang school na yan, bad example!!!
i really want to see samigue eman play for gilas...he's an athletic 6'9 with good shot-blocking skills...the only thing he has to work on is his offensive game and rebounding...i think coach rajko toroman has the capability to develop his game and turn him into a good player if he chooses to play for smart gilas...i hope smb would release him since they are loaded with talent on their roster...
"mc51"
Anong tv network ba ang TFC? Bakit di nila ipinalabas ang mga laro nang Smart Gilas? Parang kay Pacquiao din, noong di pa siya sikat ay iniisnab siya nang malalaking tv network sa Pilipinas. Tapos noong sikat na siya ay pinipirata siya nang ABC-CBN sa Solar Sports. Walang suporta sa atletang Pilipino itong TFC at ABC-CBN. Kuwarta lamang ang habol nila! I-BOYCOTT ANG TFC at ABS-CBN!!
Ito namang mga Amerikano na manlalaro, bakit walang dangal at puro kuwarta ang tinitingnan? Pipirma nang kontrata sa Pilipinas, pagdating sa labanan at nabigyan nang $$$$$ nang kabila ay biglang magkakaroon nang "injury". HUWAG NANG KUMUHA NANG AMERIKANONG MANLALARO, MUKHA SILANG PERA!!!
congratz....
they deserve it to be 3rd place.
kaso.. .badtrip at di man lang pinalabas sa Tv d2 sa pinas... di naman lahat ng tao sa pinas may internet na hi speed dsl or broadband para mapanood un... GMA... di nyo man lang sinuportahan ung team.. ALANG KWENTA!
Hindi masamang mangarap kung sinasabayan ng pagsisikap, sakripisyo at puso na ipinapakita ng smart gilas team. ang hindi nangangarap, walang nararating. kung nakapasok na ang philippine basketball team sa olympics dati, bakit imposible naman ngayon with the right coach, right players, right program and right motivation. mabuhay ang smart gilas team!
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Be realistic pare,,with the current lineup of Gilas,, redbull nga di nila Matalo. wala talaga yan, nadidissapoint ka lang kung masyado kang panatiko. Pba players talaga tapos si Toroman ang coach Plus 1 naturalized 7 footer. yan ang tamang timpla. di mga patpating gilas. tsamba lang yan palibhas pang PUROK lang nakalaban sa DUBAI.