Iran smothers India, tows Gilas to quarters

Game Thursday

(Hwaseong Sports Complex Gymnasium)

2 p.m. – Philippines vs Iran (Korea time)

INCHEON, South Korea – Powerhouse Iran demolished India, 76-41, in the process lifting Gilas Pilipinas to the quarterfinals of the Asian Games basketball competitions yesterday at the Hwaseong Sports Complex.

With an unforgiving defense and unrelenting  attack by Hamed Edhadi  and Mohammadsmad Nik Khabaharami who had 16 points each and Mohammad Jamshidijafarabadi (14), the Iranians led 22-16, 28-18, 58-36 over three quarters en route to the victory over the Indians, who were completely exhausted after their fifth game in a row, counting their three straight games in the first round.

The outright entry of the Philippines and Iran in the quarterfinal round should make today’s Philippines-Iran match non-bearing.

However, national coach Chot Reyes could use the match to select which group it may be assigned to if it wins or loses.

If it tops Group B, it will likely be bunched with China in Group 1 of the quarterfinal. If it loses to Iran, the Philippines could be grouped with Korea in Group 2.

Against China, the Philippines will be fighting a very young team,  minus its NBA veterans Li Jian Lian and Yao Ming, with an average age of 21.9 but with an average height of 6-8.

Against Korea, the Philippines will be fighting old (average age of 28 years), shorter (average height 6-4) but tested veterans who are dreaded for their outside shooting and have a sixth man on the court – a boisterous home crowd.

Reyes said China could be a surprise package while Korea is dangerous on home territory.

It is, however, very likely that Reyes will use the game to experiment on a combination of tall and small players and his mix of the outside shots from tall and small players and drive-kickout offensive from its smaller guards.

The Iranians, who  won the FIBA Asia title in 2007, crushed Smart Gilas, 76-55, for the FIBA Asia Cup diadem in Wuhan, China last July.

In the 2013 FIBA Asian Championships in Manila, the middle eastern powerhouse  humbled the host team, 85-71, right before its countrymen.

But those were the Asian Championships, a rung lower than the Asian Games and  several notches lower than the FIBA World Cup where Smart Gilas got the respect of basketball countries all over the world as the best Asian performer, beating Iran and Korea with its close games and an overtime 81-79 win over Senegal.  

China was not even a candidate for the 2014 FIBA World Cup, missing the slot fielding the same young team now competing in the Asian Games.