Gilas draws bye as Iran, Korea highlight Jones Cup start

TAIPEI—Gilas Pilipinas drew a bye ahead of a back-breaking eight-game grind as Asian powerhouses South Korea and Iran take the lid off of the 2015 William Jones Cup on Saturday by clashing in the first of a heavy four-game schedule.

The Koreans, whom the Filipinos beat in the semifinals of the 2013 Fiba Asia Championship to earn a return trip to the Fiba World Cup for the first time in close to four decades, and the rock-solid Iranians slug it out at 1 p.m. at Xinchuang Gymnasium here.

Hamed Haddadi, the NBA veteran, and the sleek-moving Nikha Bahrami will again banner the Iranians, the defending Asian champions and multiple winners of this annual event.

Chinese Taipei-A and Japan, also represented by their respective national sides, collide in the nightcap at 7 p.m. hoping to kick-start their campaigns.

USA Select-Overtake, a gathering of talents who mostly play overseas, take on Russian club team Spartak Primorye in the 5 p.m. game, with the Wellington Saints of New Zealand colliding with Chinese Taipei B at 3 p.m.

National teams are using the Jones Cup to gear up for the Fiba Asia Championship slated in Changsha in China’s Hunan province late next month where the lone continental berth for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics will be up for grabs.

Team Philippines, behind eventual Most Valuable Player LA Tenorio, won the last time it played in the Jones Cup in 2012, pulling off a dramatic overtime victory over a different United States selection.

Tenorio, along with June Mar Fajardo and Jeff Chan, is among the members of that team who did not make the trip to this city because of various reasons.

Gilas makes its debut against Taipei-A on Sunday with the Filipinos looking to avenge a group defeat in Manila in the 2012 Fiba Asia—one of only two suffered by Team Philippines, the other being the gold-medal match against Iran.

The meat of the Filipinos’ schedule comes when they clash with the Japanese, the Iranians, the Saints and the Americans starting Tuesday.

There will be no championship game, as usual, with the team that has the best record after the nine-day elimination round crowned the winner.

The Filipinos will be playing just their second tournament since being assembled last Aug. 3 by coach Tab Baldwin, and this will effectively be just their first full event after going winless in a four-nation meet a week ago in Estonia.

All eyes will be on Andray Blatche and how far he has gotten back into shape.

Blatche, the former Brooklyn Net in the NBA who showed up for that Aug. 3 practice a tad overweight, will undoubtedly be the rock of Gilas Pilipinas.