Hot Gilas could break mighty Iran spell

MANILA, Philippines - After snapping 21 long years of losing run versus China in 2007 then ending its mind-boggling jinx against Korea last year, Gilas Pilipinas’ immediate goal is to stop a longer losing record against Iran in their keenly awaited matchup Thursday in the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, Korea.

The Philippines has enjoyed a resurgence in international basketball but has yet to pull one against Iran in any FIBA tourney in the last 41 years or since the Filipinos ripped the Iranians in their ABC title romp in 1973 in Manila.

The biggest win Gilas Pilipinas has had against Iran was a 77-75 squeaker in the 2012 Jones Cup in Taipei.

The Middle Eastern power immediately got back at Gilas in their FIBA Asia Cup rematch in Tokyo a month later, and Hamed Haddadi and his teammates have since kept their domination of the Filipinos.

Iran overcame Gilas’ brave challenge in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship finals before a raucous hometown crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena, pulling off an 85-71 victory to nail a third Asian title from 2007.

Last July, the Iranians kept their mastery of the Filipinos, hacking out a 76-55 triumph in the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup semifinals in Wuhan, China.

Iran has been a puzzle that Gilas Pilipinas just can’t solve.

But again a win over China in 2007 followed by a pair of victories against the same team in the last two Asia Cups, and a breakthrough against Korea last year may be indications Gilas Pilipinas is now ready to beat all comers in the 2014 Asiad.

Coach Chot Reyes and his troops must prevail over Iran Thursday to get themselves in a good position to make the medal round.

Of course, Gilas needs to get through their initial assignment versus either Kazakhstan or India tomorrow.

The Iranians were saying they didn’t give their full effort in the recent World Cup as they’re trying to stay healthy and saving their best for the Asian Games which they haven’t won even once.

They showed their potential in their Asia Cup title run in Wuhan in July, handily beating the likes of Gilas, Japan and Chinese Taipei. Their lone loss in the tourney came at the hands of the host team, 51-64.

And while Gilas pitched camp in Miami in preparation for the World Cup, Iran, on the other hand, went to Slovenia, testing its mettle against world top-ranked teams like Slovenia, Brazil and Lithuania.

And as they placed fifth in Group A in the World Cup proper, the Iranians wound up 20th overall, a notch ahead of the Filipinos.

Eight players from their 2013 FIBA Asia Championship champion roster are in Incheon, and these are Haddadi, Nikkhah Bahrami, Mahdi Kamrani, Hamed Afagh, Oshin Sahakian, Mohammed Jamshidi, Asghar Kardoust and Rouzbeh Arghavan.

Making the team tougher is former Oregon U player Arsalan Kazemi, former youth standouts Behnam Yakhchalidehkordi, Sajjad Mashayekhi and Arman Zangeneh.

But Iran remains a team built around Haddadi.

The former NBA player, who has drifted with the Sichuan Blue Whales in the Chinese league, was among the top performers in the Spain worlds, averaging 18.8 points and 11.4 rebounds.

Bahrami and Kamrani were two other Iran players who put in a double-digit average in the World Cup with the former logging 16.0 and the latter 10.4.