CONCLUSION OF JONES CUP
RP-IRAN GAME STORY
Team Standings
*Jordan 6-1
Iran 6-2
Lebanon 6-2
**Korea 5-2
**Taiwan 5-2
RP 2-6
Taiwan-B 2-6
*Kazakhstan 1-6
Japan 1-7
** - playing at press time
TAIPEI – A dwarfed Powerade-Team Pilipinas got a full measure of the height and depth of an Asian cage superpower Sunday after getting trampled by Iran, 85-60, at the close of the 31st William Jones Cup tournament at the Hsinchuang gym.
A broken-down shot clock briefly delayed the inevitable as venue technicians worked feverishly for an hour to repair the problem.
But when it was done, so was the game.
The first meeting between the two teams since the 2007 FIBA-Asia Men’s Championship – an Olympic qualifying tournament – in Tokushima, Japan ended earlier than it last did.
While their previous encounter came down the wire before the Iranians, who went on to capture the title and qualify to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, prevailed, 75-69, the Nationals fell behind early this time, 14-7, and eventually got buried at the half, 51-23.
The second half avalanche that followed sealed a doomed climax for the RP team.
“Game was very easy, no problem,” said Iran coach Vaselin Matic.
Shrugging off a hit sustained from Ranidel de Ocampo that produced an angry bruise above his right eye, Iran’s 7-foot-3 behemoth Hamed Ehadadi, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds, parked his skyscraping frame in the paint and was the key to Iran’s complete dominance in every aspect of the mismatch.
With Serbian Rajko Toroman, who coached them in Tokushima, watching at sideline, the Iranians delivered an awesome performance that installed as a force to reckon with in the 25th FIBA Asia Men’s Championship in Tianjin, China next month.
“We had no solution to their height advantage, we just couldn’t match up with their size,” said national coach Yeng Guiao.
The Nationals wrapped up its campaign with a 2-6 slate, good for sixth spot, three rungs lower than the third place finish of their 2007 predecessors.
In an earlier game, Japan, reduced to five players, including the veteran Takehiko Orimo, after the rest of the team succumbed to intestinal flu, fell to Taiwan-B, 97-91.
Food poisoning also claimed players from other teams, including Ehadadi who was brought to the hospital and was absent when host Taiwan stunned Iran, 80-76, Saturday.
With Iran’s second loss, Jordan, which walked out of its Thursday game with the Iranians in disgust over officiating, revived its bid for a third straight championship.
Lebanon, on the other hand, scuttled the hopes of South Korea after Matt Freije unloaded 39 points and hauled down 11 rebounds in a 97-79 rout.
The Jordanians (6-1) were to aim for the title against Kazakhstan after the RP-Iran game.
Meanwhile, the clock starts ticking for the injured Ryan Reyes and, conversely, for somebody from among the 12 that made it to the official lineup.
Guiao made it clear Saturday that it will be Reyes’ call – not Guiao’s – whether or not to reinsert him into the national team that will fly to Tianjin on Aug. 4.
Rules allow teams to alter the lineups they submitted Friday until three days before the tournament comes off the wraps on Aug. 6.
“If Ryan tells me he’s O.K. to play, then I’ll find a way for him,” said Guiao, who earlier named Reyes and Talk ‘N Text forward Ranidel de Ocampo as alternates.
Reyes, 25, who played for California State-Fullerton and was drafted third overall by the Sta. Lucia Realtors, pulled a hamstring muscle in his left thigh during the 8th SEABA Men’s Championship in Medan last June and has been listed as day-to-day since.
“If I don’t feel I’m 90 percent healthy, then I’d rather not play because I don’t want to bring the team down,” said Reyes, who has an appointment with noted sports medicine specialist and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Raul Canlas after the RP team returns home Monday.
NOTES: “Tie A Yellow Ribbon,” the ‘70s pop hit by Tony Orlando and The Dawn and the unofficial anthem for former Sen. Benigno Aquino on his ill-fated arrival from Taiwan in 1983, was played during the pre-game introductions for the RP-Taiwan match Saturday…Organizers apparently found out the reason for the strips of yellow adhesives taped on the Philippine team’s uniforms and dug out the song from their music archives…Jordan’s Portuguese coach Mario Palma, whose decision to walk out of their game with Iran might have cost his team a third straight championship here, remains furious over the incident, branding it “a shame” and calling the two Taiwanese referees in that game “cowards.”...Grief befell the RP team before the Iran game when news reached the players that Wynne Arboleda's father had passed away.
Scores:
IRAN 85 – Ehadadi 19 Bahrami 18, Afagh 14, Tadjik 11, Kamrany 9, Sahakian 6, Amini 3, Davoudi 2, Davarpanah 2, Akbari 1, Doraghi 0, Davari 0.
RP 60 – Thoss 13, Baguio 12, Santos 9, Aguilar 7, Dillinger 5, De Ocampo 4, Raymundo 3, Miller 3, Taulava 2, Norwood 2.
Quarters: 25-12; 41-23; 74-43; 85-60
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