RP yields to Iran but gains quarters berth

TIANJIN – Powerade Team Pilipinas bowed to Iran for the third straight time yesterday but, with help from Japan, formalized its entry into the knockout stage of the 25th FIBA Asia Championship at the Tianjin Gym here.

The Nationals again failed to overcome the Iranians’ tremendous size advantage, led by 7-foot-3 center Hamed Ehadadi and 6-foot-8 forward Nikkhah Bahrami in a 78-88 loss that came after a crucial 77-70 win over Chinese-Taipei Monday night.

South Korea kept its unbeaten run as it nipped Chinese-Taipei, 72-70, later in the day.

Stalled by the Iranians, the Nationals had to wait a few hours to secure their spot in the quarterfinal round as Japan trounced Kuwait, 71-58, in the other match.

Still, Powerade RP needs to beat Kuwait at the close of the elimination round today to finish third in Group E and avoid a possible quarterfinals confrontation with mighty China.

A third-place finish in Group E will pit the Philippines either against Jordan or Lebanon in the quarters.

“The loss had its upside. This is a good preparation for the crossover knockout stage. If we can avoid China, we’re likely to be up against Lebanon or Jordan. Our experience versus Iran could go a long way for our probable upset win in the quarters,” said coach Yeng Guiao.

“If we win that, we’ll already be in the Final Four. So to me that’s the biggest game and we have to be ready for that. The best preparation for that is this game,” Guiao said.

Against the Iranians, coach Matic Veselin hardly gave the Filipinos a chance to win in keeping Ehadadi – a Memphis Grizzlie – in the contest until the final minute of the game.

Ehadadi powered his way to 21 points and 16 rebounds as Iran made it three in a row over the Philippines since a close win in their “Group of Death” match in Tokushima two years ago. The reigning Asian champions also whipped the Filipinos on the way to winning the Jones Cup championship in Taipei recently.

“The Filipinos continued to improve. They had big improvement from the Jones Cup. We had a harder time winning this game as the Filipinos really played hard. I needed Hamed on the court,” said Veselin.

Ehadadi’s presence took away Powerade-RP’s inside scoring, and the Filipinos had to fight from the outside on three-pointers by James Yap, Willie Miller, Jayjay Helterbrand, Jared Dillinger, Mick Pennisi and Cyrus Baguio.

Ehadadi proved unstoppable, scoring easy lay-ups in an early charge that had the Iranians racing to a 24-point spread at 38-14.

Stronger and more efficient, the Iranians drew numerous fouls and beat the Filipinos further on the charity line.

“We gave up so many fouls and send them to the line too many times. The most glaring stats was that we gave them 30 free throws as against our four foul shots and two made. If only we’re familiar with international plays, we could’ve probably managed better,” said Guiao.

“Iran is really big and strong, we have a problem matching up with them. We couldn’t defend their big men that’s why we committed so many fouls,” Guiao added. “We couldn’t adjust how to draw the fouls and how not to give up.”

The Nationals went into foul trouble early on all quarters and the Iranians kept the initiative throughout.

From the 24-point deficit, the Nationals managed to trim the gap to 17, 34-51, at the half and to nine, 73-82, with three minutes left to play in the match..

The Nationals, however, lost the momentum of their rally on an error by Miller translated into a trey by Mahdi Kamrany entering the last two minutesof the contest.

Powerade-RP fuelled fightback on three-pointers by Helterbrand, Dillinger, Yap and Miller.

Each of the four rifled in at least three triples and the entire team combined for a total of 16, sustaining the shooting they’d shown against Chinese Taipei Monday.

NOTES: Coach Yeng Guiao described Kuwait as a pesky team which could well pose a challenge. Unknown to many, the Kuwaitis pitched camp in Manila before flying to Tianjin. They played the FEU Tamaraws in a game that ended in a deadlock and battled Sta. Lucia team in a game halted by a fight... The Iranians are not yet conceding the crown to the Chinese. “China (game) is 4,000 miles away. We know what’s happening in their group but we’re not focusing much. We don’t think of China at the moment,” said coach Matic Veselin.

The scores:

Iran 88 – Bahrami 25, Ehadadi 21, Kamrany 14, Sahakian 11, Davari 10, Afagh 5, Tadjik 2, Davoudichegani 0, Doraghi 0.

RP 78 – Yap 14, Miller 14, Norwood 13, Baguio 11, Helterbrand 9, Dillinger 9, Thoss 4, Pennisi 3, Taulava 1, Raymundo 0, Aguilar 0, Santos 0.

Quarterscores: 27-14, 51-34, 74-58, 88-78