34th Jones Cup: Gilas takes down Asian champs

KKS calls a ceasefire
on all "Norwood is soft" jokes
...for now :)

For only the nth time since the Iranians zoomed into the upper echelon of Asian basketball, Pilipinas was able to raise its hands in victory at game's end. It was ugly early; sluggish and brutal-- both teams recognizing what was at stake and not wanting to give any advantage thus milking the shot clock and causing some of the most amateur-ish (and botched) sets before turning the intensity up in the second half.

Like a box office title fight, both teams didn't play their cards outright. Iran was happy with feeding the ball down low and not really looking to work around the center with their guards who are truly Euro-league worthy (Nikkhah Barrami is a beast!) while Pilipinas' dreaded "dribble drive" offense was being held at bay for halfcourt sets. Though the first half ended locked at 33 a piece, the game was physical, competitive and highly entertaining. The referees were doing their part to mess up the game for both teams, calling the quickest three second violations you'll ever see on television and missing some chippy plays inside.