FIBA Asia Champion's Cup: Gilas coach wary of Iran, Lebanon

Pilipinas-Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman has always regarded back-to-back champion Mahram of Iran and Lebanon’s Al Riyadi as the teams to beat in the 22nd FIBA-Asia Champions Cup that kicks off on Saturday, May 28 at the Philsports Arena. He’s got good enough reasons to be wary of the two basketball powers. The Iranians and Lebanese are bringing with them rosters spiked with members of their national teams and imports with good enough credentials, further emphasizing their status as the top favorites in the May 28 to June 5 meet the country is hosting for the first time in six years. “Iran and Lebanon will be bringing in some of the members of its national teams," said Toroman, who’s been well-versed in both Asian and international basketball since steering the Iran national team to the FIBA Asia men’s championship in 2007 that served as its ticket meal to the Beijing Olympics a year after. NBA veteran Loren Woods will reportedly suit up for Al Riyadi this time after helping Mahram-Iran retain the Champions Cup last year. Selected in the second round of the 2001 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, the 7-foot-2 center out of Wake Forest, also had stints with the Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets. After a year of playing with Mahram, Woods, 32, signed up with Al Riyadi last October and averaged 14.3 points and 14.3 rebounds in the Lebanese Basketball League. Woods may not only be the concern as far as Al Riyadi is concerned as Toroman is aware the most successful ball club in the Lebanese league — with 21 championships in all since it was first established in 1934 — will likely be bannered by four national players, led by naturalized cager Joe Vogel. Selected in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Seattle Supersonics, Vogel, the current team captain of Al Riyadi, is expected to be joined in the team by fellow nationals Ali Mahmoud, Ali Fakhredine and Nour Jean Abdel. Toroman also pointed out the possibility of 6-foot-6 veteran Fadi El-Khatib, considered the pillar of Lebanese basketball, joining the team during the nine-day tournament won three times by Lebanon in the past. And then, there’s four-time, defending champion Iran. The Iranians have tapped again four key players from last year’s champion squad, including former national team stalwart Samad Nikkah Bahrami, Mehrad Atashi, Kayeh Nourafza, and Mehdi Kamrani, the starting point guard of the Iran national team. Like Al Riyadi, Mahram also has a rich basketball tradition in the Iran Basketball Super League, where it has won three championships from 2007 to 2010. It also bagged two West Asian Cup titles. Iran actually won the last four stagings of the meet featuring the best club teams around Asia, with Sabah Battery of Tehran bagging the titles in 2007 and 2008, before Mahram did its share in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The four championships snared by Iran tied with the Philippines for the most titles won in the event that began in 1981 in Hong Kong. - RCJ, GMA News