Coach Rajko Toroman acknowledged these two handicaps by the national cagers Sunday after they finished seventh following a 100-95 overtime win over Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal Mobily.
“After Dubai, our confidence was too high,” said Toroman. “But this tournament showed that everybody’s preparing well for the Asian Games and the FIBA Asia Championship.”
Mahram, fielding the core of Iran’s national team, retained its crown over host Al Rayyan of Qatar while Lebanon’s Al Riyadi outlasted ASU of Jordan in the bronze-medal match.
“At this point, these teams are definitely better than our team,” said Toroman. “This must serve as a warning for us. It means we have to work harder.”
Smart Gilas copped the bronze in the Dubai International Tournament last January and gained the respect of its counterparts from the Middle East.
But injuries to key Nationals during their tune-up games in Serbia and the United States the last two months slowed the team down.
JV Casio, named best guard in Dubai, is still recovering from an MCL sprain while Marcio Lassiter and JR Cawaling have ailing knees.
“As I’ve said before the tournament, we just have to survive because we’re not ready,” said the RP five coach. “Some key players were not in the team while Chris Lutz has yet to adjust to the system.
“We didn’t play to the level that we’re supposed to play because of these injuries. It means that we have to be patient, give the players good rest. It will be different in the next tournament.”
Next stop for Smart Gilas is the William Jones Cup in Taipei late next month and the FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup in Beirut on Aug. 7 to 15.
A month-long training camp against US NCAA Division I teams will precede the national team’s Guangzhou Asian Games stint on Nov. 12 to 27.
The Serbian mentor also stressed the need to address the team’s problem inside the paint, hopefully with the addition of Kelly Williams at power forward and a big naturalized player at the slot.
“With more players in the rotation, I think we’ll be fine,” said Toroman.
Smart Gilas lost to Qatar’s Al Rayyan, Mahram and Kazakhstan’s Astana Tigers before ousting Duhok of Iraq for the last quarterfinal seat in Group A.
But Al Riyadi, powered by former Smart Gilas import CJ Giles, Nate Johnson and Fadi El Khatib, shut the semifinal door on the Filipinos.
Syria’s Al Jalaa then foiled Smart Gilas’ attempt to duplicate its fifth-place finish last year in Jakarta.
Skipper Chris Tiu scored eight of his 18 points in the extra period against Saudi Arabia.
The scores:
SMART GILAS 100—Barroca 24, Tiu 18, Ramos 14, Ababou 12, Vucicevic 12, Baracael 9, Lutz 6, Aguilar 3, Slaughter 2.
AL HILAL 95—Johnson 37, Crump 25, Almohammed 14, Alzawad 6, A. Aldosari 4, Aldawsari 3, Alsager 3, Samater 2, Y. Aldosari 1.
Quarters: 14-20, 41-47, 65-66, 86-all (reg), 100-95OT
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