NATIONAL team head coach Chot Reyes looked to Argentina and Iran as the foundation for the next Gilas Pilipinas program.
“Why is Iran so strong? It’s not only because of Hamed Haddadi and the other strong players,” Reyes said. “But Haddadi and company have been together since they were 17.”
“And how old are they now? They’re 29 or 30. That means they have been playing together for 15 years now,” he added.
Reyes made the comment during a talk before more than 1,500 basketball coaches from all over the Philippines in the SM-NBTC MVPSF Coaches Convention at the Ynares Center in Pasig City last Monday, November 6.
“As for Argentina, the Golden Age of Argentine basketball it is the same thing—(Luis) Scola, (Manu) Ginobili. They have been together since they were 17 years old,” he said.
“What does that mean? If there is a competition, even though they practice for one or two weeks, they are familiar with each other,” he explained.
Iran won three FIBA Asia Cups beginning in 2007—with former Gilas head coach Rajko Toroman at the helm—2009, and 2013 had the core of shooting guard Hamed Afagh, point guard Mehdi Kamrani, forward Bahrami, power forward Oshin Sahakian and center Haddadi.
Afagh, Bahrami and Kamrani were 24 at in 2007 while Haddadi was 22 and Sahakian, 21.
As for the Argentines, the “Golden Generation” Reyes referred to featured players who were born from 1975 to 1980 in center Fabricio Oberto, Ginobili, Walter Hermann, Andres Nocioni, Pablo Prigioni, Pepe Sanchez and Scola. Shooting guard Carlos Delfino, who was born in 1982, was later added to the mix.
That team won the 2001 AmericaCup, 2004 Summer Olympics, 2004 and 2008 South American Championship as well as numerous silver and bronze finishes.
“Maybe we can bring up our Kai Sottos, AJ Edus and Kobe Parases into a batch of young players who will serve together,” Reyes said. “It is something that we should be looking at this program of longevity.”
“It is important that we bring up our players in age groups who will compete and serve for many many years.”