Gilas Pilipinas bows to Iran in Jones Cup

Fatigue has taken its toll on Gilas Pilipinas as it bowed from stronger, taller and smarter Iranian players in the on going Jones Cup in Taipei 74-65 Thursday.Iran dominated the game through its aggressive and physical defense, power play and transition offense.Eshan Haddadi, the mammoth power center of Iran squad dominated the game all throughout, using his body and height against Asi Taulaba and Moala Tuatuaa in the paint.The Islamic Republic of Iran is the defending champion of the 2014FIBA Asia Championships and remain on topof the Power Rankings in Week 1.FIBA, in its website, saidthe Iranians are expected to be very strong again this year, with the same old faces doing the same amount of damage to their foes. Tab Baldwin, Gilas Pilipinas head coach, politely accepted the defeat but said a lot of lessons have been learned in the game against Iran, the team's 5th game in five days.Gilas now has 3-2 win-loss records.But obviously fatigue and injuries hounded the Philippine squad which is preparing for the FIBA 2015 Asian Championships.