Gilas falls to mighty Iran anew

MANILA, Philippines -- Reigning Asian champion Iran pummeled Gilas Pilipinas with its superior offensive might and relentless tough defensive effort, ending the Filipinos’ unbeaten romp with a dominant 76-55 victory in their semifinal showdown in the fifth FIBA Asia Cup at the Wuhan Sports Centre in Wuhan, China Friday night.

Even with a virtual new roster with couples of young scorers and young playmakers, the Iranians showed their old cohesion and savvy as they extended their supremacy over the Filipinos to get a shot at a title repeat in this tourney formerly known as the Stankovic Cup.

Starters Mohammad Jamshidi, Hamed Hadadi, Behnam Yakhchalidehkordi, Oshian Sahakian and Saijad Mashayekhi all put in solid efforts and significant numbers as Iran repeated its 77-60 conquest of the Philippines also in the semis of this event in Japan in 2012 and, thus, advanced to the finals versus the winner of the China-Chinese Taipei Final Four faceoff.

Gilas Pilipinas was relegated to the battle for third place versus the loser of the other semis tiff.

Riding the momentum of a perfect four-game run from the preliminary round, Gilas was stymied early by two quick fouls drawn by naturalized center Marcus Douthit.

With those fouls just a little over two minutes into the game, Douthit sat out the rest of the first half and failed to get into the groove in his return in the second half.

Iran controlled Douthit with its tough interior defense and, on the offensive end, dominated with its good ball movement and torrid shooting.

With double-digit productions from Jamshidi, Hadadi, Mashayekhi and Yakhchalidehkordi, the Iranians sat on a 39-28 cushion at the half and kept a commanding lead all the way to the finish in another masterful showing against the Filipinos.

In Manila last year, the Iranians disappointed Gilas and its cheering fans at the Mall of Asia Arena and those watching on TV in the gold-medal match of the 27th FIBA Asia Championship.

Now in their second year under Slovenian coach Mehmed Becirovic, the Iranians were far more dominant in this Asia Cup semis, outclassing the Filipinos practically on all fronts of the game.

They converted 27 of 62 field attempts, including seven three pointers by Yakhchalidehkordi, Jamshidi, Oshian Sahakian and Arman Sangeneh as against Gilas’ 3-of-21 treys.

The Iranians also dominated the boards, 43-34, and battered the Filipinos, 34-24, on inside scoring.

Their good passing game was evident with their 14-5 advantage on assists.

Hadadi, Iran’s 7-foot-1 center, found no problem facing Gilas’ helping defense as he came through with 11 points, five assists, five rebounds, three blocks and one steal against two turnovers in 32 minutes of action.

Douthit, on the other hand, struggled with a 2-of-13 clip, finding it hard to get a good rhythm facing the towering presence of Hadadi.

Paul Lee, Gilas’ leding scorer in each of their first four games here, was likewise shackled by the Iranian guards, held to a personal tournament-low of four markers.

LA Tenorio, Gary David and Ranidel de Ocampo scored 11 points each to lead Gilas’ losing stand.

With Douthit on the bench and the Phl gunners not hitting their outside shots, Gilas fell behind by seven, 13-20, at the end of the first quarter and by 11 at the turn.

They didn’t improve even with Douthit’s return in the second half.

The scores:

Iran 76 – Jamshidi 19, Yakhchalidehkordi 18, Hadadi 11, Mashayekhi 10, Sahakian 7, Zangeneh 5, Lalehzadeh 3, Arghavan 2, Kazemi 1, Kardoust 0.

The Philippines 55 – De Ocampo 11, David 11, Tenorio 11, Douthit 6, Washington 5, Aguilar 4, Lee 4, Dillinger 3, Alas 0, Lanete 0, Belga 0, Fajardo 0.

Quarterscores: 20-13, 39-28, 61-44, 76-55