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

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."

2013 FIBA Asia Championship qualification

The 2013 FIBA Asia Championship qualification was held at the Ota Gymnasium, in Ota, Tokyo, Japan from September 14–22, 2012 (2012 FIBA Asia Cup) the winner was Iran they will automatically qualifies for the FIBA Asia Championship in 2013. The other qualification tournaments are yet to be held for the Gulf region, West Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Central Asia and South Asia.

The following are eligible to participate:

• The organizing country.
• The champion team from the previous FIBA Asia Cup.
• The four best-placed teams from the previous FIBA Asia Cup will qualify the same number of teams from their respective sub-zones.
• The two best teams from the sub-zones of East Asia, Gulf, Southeast Asia and West Asia and the winner from the sub-zones of South Asia and Central Asia.