Iran beat Gilas Pilipinas to capture FIBA Asia crown

Iran is too much too tall and too physical for undermanned Gilas Pilipinas as they run away with an 85-71  victory and capture the gold medal in the 27th FIBA Asia Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Without the injured Marcus Douthit, the Filipinos had trouble containing seven-foot-two Hamed Hadadi, Iran's NBA veteran who frolicked in the paint and scored a game-high 27 points to go along with 16 rebounds.

It's the third FIBA Asia title for Iran, which ruled this event in 2007 and 2009. The loss denied the Philippines a chance to win its first Asian crown since 1985. Iran, Gilas and Korea all qualified for the FIBA  Basketball World Cup to be held next year in Spain

Aside from the silver medal, the Philippines received some consolation after point guard Jayson Castro was named to the tournament's mythical team, along with Korea's Kim Mingoo, Chinese Taipei's Lin Chih Chieh, Iran's Oshin Sahakian, and Hadadi.

The Main Man: With Gilas Pilipinas walking wounded in the absence of Douthit, towering Iranian center Hadadi was simply too much, notably in the second half.

Waived by the Phoenix Suns in late June this year, the 7-foot-2 behemoth towered over his Filipino rivals with a game-high 29 points, 18 coming in the final 20 minutes, on top of 16 rebounds, two blocks and as many assists in 29 minutes of dominant play.

Proving he’s still the most intimidating inside presence in Asia, Hadadi–as expected–was named the tournament's most valuable player.

Honorable Mentions: Versatile Samad Nikkhah Bahrami, crafty playmaker Mahdi Kamrany and do-it-all Oshin Sahakian showed there’s more to Iran than just their prized center.

The 6-foot-6 Bahrami bucked a foul-plagued outing with 19 markers, most of them in the second half, plus seven assists while the 5-foot-11 Kamrany displayed an all-around outing of 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Not to be outshone was the 6-foot-7 Sahakian, who finished with a double-double outing of 12 points and as many rebounds, enough to earn for himself the tourney’s Best Power Forward award.

Game Turning Point: Kamrany’s buzzer-beating triple at the end of the third canto proved to the beginning of the Nationals’ end in the thrilling match.

After Jimmy Alapag canned two freebies that pulled Gilas within 53-59, the Iranians made the most out of the 5.8 seconds left in the third canto, hurriedly relaying the leather to a wide-open Kamrany, who coolly sank a right corner triple that restored their lead to nine.

It was all Iran after that. Hamed Afagh translated a lousy inbound pass by Larry Fonacier into an easy lay-in then Hamed Hadadi buckled down to work by scoring six of the team’s next eight points that put in full control going to the final 5:08 of play.

They Said It:

Iran coach Memi Becirovic: “Today’s game was the toughest game for us because we know 20,000 fans are behind the Philippine team. They played very good and they fight every time.”

Iran center Hamed Hadadi: “They missed their center Marcus (Douthit) but still they played very well. I think the best team we played were the Philippines.”

Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes: “Unfortunately, it ended the way it did. Still, if somebody told me last month that on August 11 we would have silver medals around our necks, we’ll be very, very happy. Ecstatic in fact. We came and achieved what we set out to achieve. Obviously, we wanted to win that gold but in the end, especially without Marcus, it was too difficult for us. I’m very, very proud of my players. They fought tooth and nail.”

Gilas Pilipinas guard Jayson William: “‘Yung goal namin, na-achieve namin (of making it to the FIBA World Cup in Spain). Pasalamat rin kami na nakaharap namin sila sa finals para sa experience.”

Iran takes FIBA Asia beat Gilas Pilipinas

Iran wins FIBA Asia by beating Gilas Pilipinas. At half, Gilas Pilipinas rallied to reach 34-35 deficit against a favored Iran five in their gold medal match of the 27th FIBA Asia men’s Championship Sunday night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City but Iran overwhelemed them defensively and the Philippines cannot buy a bucket.

Gilas Pilipinas defeated South Korea, 86-79,

Gilas Pilipinas defeated South Korea, 86-79, on Saturday, to earn the right to play Iran in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship Finals, at the Mall of Asia Arena. With the win, the Philippines also earned a berth in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain.

"To all the haters and the skeptics, I forgive you," said a triumphant Gilas head coach Chot Reyes. "God bless you and mabuhay ang Pilipinas."

The Koreans brought the lead down to a single point at 4:40 as Kim Mingoo completed a four-point play. It was quickly followed by a Lee Seung Jun dunk at the 4:18 mark to give Korea a 74-73 lead. He added a free throw to install a two-point lead.

With the Koreans threatening anew to break their hearts, Alapag seized the moment to return the favor. Alapag gave Gilas back the lead with a triple with 3:01 left in the game, but Kim Tae-Sool quickly stole it back with a jumper to settle the score at 77-76 in favor of Korea..

De Ocampo stepped up to score a layup to continue the see-saw battle between the two fierce rivals. With the seconds dwindling down, Pingris stole the ball, which led to a De Ocampo triple for an 81-77 Gilas lead.

After Yang Donggeun rolled in his free throws to cut Gilas’ lead down to two, 81-79, Alapag answered with a booming three-pointer in the final 54 seconds to make it 84-79 and killed any hopes of another Korean comeback. 
"Words can’t describe how we’re feeling right now,” Alapag said after punching a ticket to the FIBA World Cup in Spain next year with an 86-79 win over Korea that pushed Gilas Pilipinas to a finals showdown with two-time champion Iran Sunday night. 

The 5-foot-9 Alapag, who was hailed as Asia’s best point guard by Lebanon’s Fadi El Khatib during his first tour of duty with the national team, hit four triples – the last, perhaps, the biggest in his entire basketball career.

Philippines 86 - Castro 17, Pingris 16, Alapag 14, De Ocampo 11, Tenorio 9, Aguilar 8, Chan 5, Norwood 2, Douthit 2, Fonacier 2, David 0

Korea 79 - M. Kim 27, D. Yang 11, Joo-sung Kim 11, S. Lee 10, J. Lee 10, Cho 6, S. Kim 2, T. Kim 2, Yoon 0, Kim Jongkyu 0

Gilas Pilipinas in the Finals after beating South Korea 86-76

MANILA, Philippines — Smart Gilas Pilipinas beat South Korea 86-76 and will now face Iran for the 27th FIBA Asia Men’s Championships finals.

Jimmy Alapag iced the game with a three pointer, and Pingris' put back assured the win for the Philippines.

Iran beat Chinese Taipei, claims first finals slot

Iran use their strong defense to defeat the three-point threat of Chinese Taipei, 79-60, on Saturday, in the semifinal round of the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship held at the Mall of Asia Arena, Manila, Philippines.

Iran are now in the finals that will be held tomorrow, they will also go to Spain for the 2014 FIBA World Cup. After their untimely exit in the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, Iran vowed to do all they can to recapture the title. They are now one step away as they wait for the winner of the second semis match-up against the Philippines and South Korea.

“Three things were important. No fastbreaks, no easy points, and control the boards,” said Iran head coach Mehmed Becirovic. “We didn’t start the game good but we found the energy to win the game.”

Mahdi Kamrany, Iran’s veteran point guard, scored 19 points and added six rebounds and six assists. Hamed Hadadi added 17 points and 14 rebounds while Oshin Sahakian chipped in 13 points and eight boards.

Chinese Taipei, on the other hand, will have to earn their invitation to Spain the hard way. They now await the loser of the other semis match for the battle for third tomorrow.

Hung Chih-Shan broke a 4-all tie at the 7:48 mark with a step back jumper, but Hadadi tied game again on the next possession.

Iran struggled to get their inside game going as Quincy Davis and Tseng Wen-Ting tag teamed to clog the lane. However, Hamed Afagh completed a steal and turned it into a three point play at the 3:29 mark of the first to trim Chinese Taipei's lead down to two points at 13-11.

Lin Chih-Chieh sank a triple at the 2:20 mark to extend their lead to seven points at 19-12. Tseng added a long jumper to raise the lead to nine points.

An Afagh baseline jumper inched Iran closer at 21-14, but Chen Shih-Chieh finished the first quarter by sinking an awkward jumper. The first 10 minutes of action ended with Chinese Taipei surprising Iran by leading 23-14.

Lin, the usually reliable scorer for Chinese Taipei, struggled in the game. His triple in the first quarter would be his first and only basket. He went 1-for-6 in the field while turning the ball over four times.

An inside two from Asghar Kardoust and a triple from Mahdi Kamrany opened the second quarter for Iran to get to within four points of Chinese Taipei at 23-19.

A free throw from Oshin Sahakian and three straight points from Kamrani knotted the ball game at 23-all with 6:23 left in the second period. Iran continued to wreak havoc on the open court as they completed a 17-0 run

Two free throws from Davis finally stopped the bleeding for Chinese Taipei. Those were Chinese Taipei’s first two points in the second period and these came with only 3:30 left before halftime.

Iran pushed the tempo yet again to get four straight points from Kamrany and Sahakian to build a 35-25 lead. Luckily for Chinese Taipei, Iran’s head coach was called for a technical foul. This allowed Davis to make two free throws with his team keeping possession.

Davis finally scored Chinese Taipei’s first field goal of the second quarter at the 1:20 mark. His basket trimmed the Iranian lead down to 10 at 39-29. After another basket from Sahakian, Davis scored again down low but he was fouled and bloodied up. Tien Lei stepped in to can the freethrow in Davis’ stead to get Chinese Taipei to within nine points.

Tien added a triple at the tail end of the first half for a 41-35 count still in Iran’s favor.

Iran outscored Chinese Taipei 27-12 in the second period to turn a nine-point deficit into a six-point lead. Kamrany led Iran with 12 points, four rebounds, and four assists in the first half. Sahakian added nine points, six rebounds, and three assists.

Davis top scored for Chinese Taipei with 10 points as he carried the brunt of the offense for his team in the second period.

Kamrany and Sahakian, the duo that did the most damage for Iran in the first half, connected again to start the third period. Kamrany found Sahakian for the first two points for Iran. Sahakian then completed a steal and a fastbreak layup for a 45-35 count in their favor. Hadadi added a hook, followed by a fastbreak layup from Samad Nikkah Bahrami to build a 14-point lead for Iran.

Like in the second period, it was Davis who first scored for Chinese Taipei with a basket down low at the 5:55 mark. Davis scored again after a couple of minutes, but their defense could not contain Hadadi as Iran continued to pull away.

Kamrany scored a split on the line at the 1:24 mark, but Iran got the offensive rebound for a Kamrany layup to give Iran a commanding 58-39 lead. Afagh ended the third with a fastbreak layup for a 60-39 edge heading into the final quarter.

Chinese Taipei’s woes on offense continued in the third. After exploding for 23 points in the first quarter, they only managed to score 12 in the second and a measly four points in the third to allow Iran to pull away.

A jumper from Chen somehow trimmed the Iranian lead to 17 points at 62-45 with 6:23 left in the game. Chen did all he can to bring Chinese Taipei back in the game but he was matched by Kamrany and Hadadi on the other side.

Another Hadadi basket and a fastbreak layup by Kamrany gave Iran a 70-28 lead with only 3:38 left in the game.

Iran started pulling out their starters at that point as they allowed their bench to complete the mop-up operations.

IRAN (79) - Kamrany 19, Hadadi 17, Sahakian 13, Afagh 10, Kardoust 8, Nikkah Bahrami 8, Jamshidijafarabadi 2, Davoudichegani 2, Davari 0, Arghavan 0, Sohrabnejad 0, Veisi 0

CHINESE TAIPEI (60) - Davis III 16, Chen 11, Tsai 6, Tseng 6, Hung 5, Lu 5, Tien 4, Lin 3, Yang 2, Creighton 2, Lee 0, Chou 0

Source: GMA Newss

Gilas Pilipinas Eliminates Kazakhs 88-58

Smart Gilas Pilipinas kept its composure and finally ended Kazakhstan brief comeback with three pointers and fast breaks beating the taller Kazakhs, 88-58 quarterfinal game in the 27th FIBA Asia championships.

After leading by as many as 19 in the first period, the Philippines saw its lead dwindle down to just six, 38-44, when the Kazakhs’ started nailing their outside shots with 2:13 left in the second.

China knocked out of FIBA Asia by Chinese Taipei 96-78

MANILA, Philippines – Chinese Taipei used a big third quarter run to dethrone defending champion China in a shocking 96-78 upset in the quarterfinal round of the 2013 Manila FIBA Asia Men’s Basketball Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday night.

Chinese Taipei outscored China, 31-12, in a big third quarter explosion that overturned a 10-point China halftime lead.

The Taiwanese rallied behind the inside presence of naturalized player Quincy Davis and their outside sniping as the once mighty China lead suddenly crumbled.

Davis’ alley-oop play capped off a 15-0 run by the Taiwanese bridging the second and early part of the third quarter.

Yi Jianlian gave China its final lead, 52-50, before Tien Lei’s triple ignited a furious 21-12 exchange that gave Taipei a nine-point edge, 71-62, into the fourth quarter.

China never knew what hit them as Taipei continued to pour the heat in the payoff period.

Iran crushes Jordan to enter semis

Iran made sure there was no chance for a repeat upset, going for the knockout punch early in the game demolishing its 2011 tormentor Jordan with a staggering 94-50 rout in the quarterfinal round of the 27th FIBA Asia championships at the MOA Arena in Pasay City on Friday.

Hamed Haddadi imposed his will inside scattering 20 points while Hamed Afagh and Oshin Sahakian chipped in 18 and 14 points, respectively.

Philippines Gilas Failed to close it out Lose to Chinese Taipei 84-79

Chinese Taipei hit clutch three pointers in the final few minutes to steal a win against the Philippine team, 84-79, on Saturday in the final game of Group A play in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship being held at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Philippines were leading by 11 in early minutes of the 4th until the Chinese Taipei heat up and pummel the Philippine team with three pointers.

With the victory, Chinese Taipei earned the top spot in their Group with a 3-0 win-loss card, while Gilas slides down to second place at 2-1. Jordan and Saudi Arabia share identical 0-2 records.

Iran punishes Yi-less China 70-51

MANILA, Philippines – Iran making a statement by beating Yi Jianlan-less China, 70-51, Saturday to sweep the Group C of the 2013 Manila FIBA Asia Men’s Basketball Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Samad Nikkah Bahrami scored all of his 10 points in the first quarter lifting Iran to a 26-16 lead.  Bahrami failed to score the rest of the way but it did not matter as the rest of the Iranians took care of the rest.

Yi, who sat out for the second straight game with a hamstring injury,

Hamed Haddadi had 15 points and seven boards outdueling China’s ageless Wang ZhiZhi, who finished with nine and five.

Hamed Afagh and Oshin Sahakian also did well for the 2007 FIBA Asia champions combining for 25 points.

Wang Shipeng was the lone double-digit scorer for China with 11 points.

Philippines Gilas outgun Jordan 77-71 share top spot in Group A

Philippines Gilas put up a tough defense on naturalized Jordanian player Jimmy Baxter to limit him to 14 points and six rebounds. Gabe Norwood bothered Baxter with his tough defense and long arms.

Gilas fired off 17 unanswered points in a 20-4 run in a third quarter backed by an excelent defense and offensive rebounding, seizing a 53-42 lead against their taller foes. Jordan fought back, launching a late 9-3 run in the final three minutes, but with 35 seconds left on the clock, had to resort to intentional fouls. Gilas sealed the game from the line to take their second win in the tournament.

South Korea loses to Iran

MANILA, Philippines - South Korea fell short against the bigger Iranian national team losing 65-76 in the preliminary round of the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship.

After they made a huge upset in beating powerhouse China in their opening game yesterday, they were leading 34-30, after the first half until fatigue finally caught up with them.

Iran took a 51-41 lead entering the payoff period, dominating the rest of the way.

Hammed Haddadi and Bahrami combined for 53 points and 20 boards as Korea helplessly watched the duo dominate the front court.

Asian basketball giant China fall to South Korea 63-59

South Korea's continous offensive assault against powerhouse China resulted with a win in the 27th FIBA Asia Championship games at the Mall of Asia Arena in the Philippines Thursday night.

China failed to neutralize the South Korean team with shorter players than the Chinese players, even with NBA veterans led by Yi Jianlian.

It was a back-and-forth battle between the two powerhouse with South Korea emerging victoriuos 63-59.

Neither side led by more than six points, as the two powerhouses slugged it out. The score was at a deadlock, 55-all, with 2:08 left, resulting in a China timeout, but they were unable to get anything out of it as Wang Shipeng turned the ball over.

South Korea 63: Kim Joo 15, Cho 12,  Yang 11, Kim S. 9, Lee S. 6, Kim T. 3, Moon 2, Kim Jongkyu 2, Choi 2, Lee S. 1, Yoon 0, Kim M. 0

China 59: Yi 23, Zhou 8, Liu 6, Wang Zhe 5, Zhu 4, Wang Zhi. 4, Sun 2, Guo 2, Zhang 2, W. Chen 2, ang 1, Li 0

Quarter scoring: 13-15, 29-31, 46-42, 63-59

Taipei surprise Jordan, 91-87

MANILA, Philippines – Chinese Taipei survived Jordan's late rally to score a close 91-87 victory on Thursday opening its campaign in the 2013 Manila FIBA Asia Men's Basketball Championship on a positive note at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Philippines.

Chih-Chieh Lin scorred 27 points while naturalized player Quincy Davis was a source of strength inside finishing with 18 points and pull down 11 boards to pace the Taiwanese.

A rebuilding Jordan team was led by its new naturalized player Jimmy Baxter, who wound up with 30 points.

Ex-NBA Jarvis Hayes boost Qatar to beat Japan

MANILA, Philippines – Qatar came from behind an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Japan, 75-74, in Group B of the 27th FIBA-Asia Championship Thursday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Philippines.

Yasseen Ismail Musa had a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds as Qatar climbed back from a 53-61 hole to start the final frame.

Former NBA player Jarvis Hayes had a solid game for Qatar late — knocking down a baseline jumper that made it a two-possession game, 74-70, before splitting on his charities to seal the game with only 5.4 ticks left.

Iran routed of Malaysia FIBA Asia 2013

Iran routed Malaysia 115-25 in the opening match of the 27th Asian Men's Basketball Championship on Thursday. It was a very lopsided win.

Hamed Hadadi played only about 13 minutes to score 21 points, and pull eight rebounds to lead the 2009 champions.

Both teams stood in silent tribute for one minute before the match for the 25-year-old Malaysian player Ng Kiat-Kee, who passed away while playing an Invitational tournament in China due to a heart attack.

But the Malaysian team failed to pull strenght from that unfortunate event. Their only points scored in the first quarter were from Tong Wen-Keong's three-pointer. Hadadi was 6-of-6 and scored 14 points to help Iran lead 42-3 after the first quarter.

Iran coach Mehmed Becirovic fielded in substitutes in the second quarter but his bench players only outscored Malaysia 16-10. Hadadi, Mahdi Kamrany and Samad Nikkhah Bahrami came back on court to help Iran extend their lead to 76 points before the final quarter.

Bahrami contributed 11 points and four assists while Kamrany had 12. Asghar Kardoust came from bench to take a second team-high 15 points.

"The score is not important," said Becirovic. "It's important for us to play our game."

Iran will play against South Korea in their second group match while Malaysia will take on defending champions China.

"We know South Korea well and they also know us well. South Korea is a very dangerous team and they have lots of great shooters." added Becirovic.

Mak Lok-Seng, who now carries Ng Kiat-Kee's No.14 jersey, felt sorry about the team's poor performance.

"We want to play a good match for him. I'm feeling sorry for the score," said Mak.

"Our team is full of young players," said Malaysian coach Teh Choon-Yean. "We are just gaining experience and learning how to play basketball in a high level."