FIBA-Asia: Iran cagers frustrate Pinoys, 75-69

The San Miguel-Team Pilipinas cagers hit a brick wall in their very first game Sunday at the FIBA-Asia Men's Championship in Japan — that is, the very tough defense of their Iranian opponents, who dealt them a frustrating defeat, 75-69. The Nationals trailed early, fell behind by as many as 17 points, came back tantalizingly within a point only to fall short in the end. Starting with Danny Seigle, Jimmy Alapag, Asi Taulava, Dondon Hontiveros, and Kelly Williams, the Nationals missed their first three shots and trailed quickly 11-4 as forward Mohammad Nikkhah had seven of his 14 first half points in the opening quarter. That was a scary first quarter for the Pinoys, who had an even scarier second period where they trailed by as many as 27-16 after a run of eight unanswered points by the Iranians. Though the 11-point deficit was bad enough, it could have been worse had Iran been steady from the free-throw line. SMC-RP shot a woeful 3 for 21 from inside the arc in the first 20 minutes, missed five of its 3-point attempts, and turned the ball over 13 times, twice more than Iran. Aggressive Iranian defense Tight, nervous and disorganized at times, the Nationals lost possession on the dribble and unchallenged passes, missed from close range, and were slow defending against the Iranian shooters who drained four in the first 10 minutes. Iran used an aggressive match-up zone that double-teamed the Nationals' post-up players and effectively shut down the smaller RP shooters. The third quarter became the culmination of the Nationals' disappointing debut as they missed their first eight shots and watched Iran build a 39-25 advantage with a 9-0 run to start the second half. The Iranians ruled much of the game, their a 22-percent field goal shooting overshadowing the Filipinos' 14-percent, so that they kept a comfortable lead at the end of every quarter — 19-14, 30-25, 51-36, 75-69. Futile rally The Nationals, however, gave the Iranians some resistance in the fourth quarter, giving Filipino fans at the ASTY Tokushima Stadium something to cheer about. That's when they converted most of their shot attempts, making 33 points in all – compared to 14 in the first and 11 each in the second and third. The Nationals actually came really close to getting even with the Iranians in the last minutes of the game, when Kerbie Raymundo made a layup that put the score at 67-65, after which he was fouled — and he made his point charity to come as close as his team ever was to the Iranians, at 67-66. And then the Iranians committed a 5-second violation that resulted in a turnover to the Filipinos. Unfortunately, the Nationals failed to get the ball into play, making their own five-second violation that returned the ball to the Iranians. Then Renren Ritualo fouled Iranian star Kamrany Mahdi, who makes split his charities to put the score at 68-66. After a fruitless turnover for the Filipinos, Ritualo again fouled Mahdi, who again split his free-throws, for a 69-66 score. Crucial technical foul Undaunted, the Nationals was able to execute their next play well enough to enable Kelly Williams to make a successful layup, getting them again to a point under the Iranians, 69-68. With 58 seconds left, the Filipinos had a fighting chance to either tie for overtime, or even win the game. But at this point an overexcited coach Vincent "Chot" Reyes got a technical foul from the Greeek referree. Reyes was asking for a travelling call on an Iranian player. "I hope that referee is happy for calling that technical," a fuming Reyes said in a statement issued after the game. "It's just unbelievable. It's a stupid call. We deserved to have a fair chance but he spoiled a great match. I can't put words into it, not to take away anything from Iran." The Iranians got another pair of successful free-throws, from forward Mohammad Nikka, who led Iran with his 25 points, so that they pulled away again, 71-68. And from there the Filipinos' game went to pieces. "We deserve to win the game because we shot well from the field," said Iran coach Rijko Toroman. "But we were terrible from the free-throw line." The Iranians missed eight foul shots in the last five minutes of the first half and were 6 for 21 overall from the stripe in settling to a 30-25 lead at the intermission. In an earlier Group A match, Jordan defeated China, 78-65. The Philippine team will face the Chinese on Sunday and Jordan on Monday. The Filipinos must beat both opponents if they want to advance to the quarterfinals. Notes PBA media bureau chief Willie Marcial "confiscated" the cell phones, laptops, and I-pods of all the players on the eve of the game with Iran on the instruction of team officials "to make sure nobody stays past waking hours at the Tokushima Prince Hotel. This arrangement will be enforced throughout the tournament, Marcial said... SBP president and telecommunications tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan and PBA chairman Ricky Vargas arrived from Hong Kong Saturday afternoon and was driven straight from Kansai International Airport to the playing venue for the RP-Iran game. Scores Iran (75): Nikkhah 25, Davari 14, Nekkah 12, Kamrany 10, Amini 5, Ehadadi 3, Nabipoor 2, Eslamieh 2, Doraghi 1, Sahaklan 1, Akbari 0, Rouzbahani 0. SMC-RP (69): Raymundo 15, Alapag 12, Seigle 8, Caguioa 7, Talava 6, Pennisi 6, Hontiveros 5, Norwood 4, Williams 3, Helterbrand 3, Ritualo 0, Menk 0 Quarter scores: 19-14; 30-25; 51-36; 75-69

- GMANews.TV