 |
| Chris Tiu and the rest of Smart-Gilas Pilipinas were able to thwart Taiwan's efforts for a podium finish. (image from Basketball-tpe.org) |
SMART-GILAS PILIPINAS over TAIWAN, 82-72
PHL 82 - Douthit 28, Lassiter 16, Hontiveros 13, Barroca 10, Baracael 5, Taulava 5, Aguilar 4, Tiu 1, Ababou 0
TPE 72 - Chien 26, Chen SH 13, Su 9, Lee 6, Chen HA 4, Lu 4, Creighton 3, Chang 2, Ho 2
QS: 22-16, 43-34, 62-49, 82-72
- Gilas ended the 2011 Jones Cup on a positive note by garnering 3rd place. Historically speaking, it's been difficult motivating Filipinos to fight for the bronze, but they fought hard against a depleted home team today.
- Marcus Douthit had another wonderful outing, finishing with a double-double -- 28 points and 11 rebounds. It was a well-balanced attack, too, with Gilas making 55% of their 2pt FGs. Considering key players JV Casio and Chris Lutz sat out the contest, Gilas's last game of the tournament was a testament to their mental toughness and desire to make their country proud.
- The Taiwanese fought well in spite of the absence of their big men Tseng Wen-Ting and Wu Tai-Hao. Young guns Chien Chia-Hung and Chen Shun-Hsiang gave good accounts of themselves in front of their countrymen.
- Gilas flies back home pocketing the 2nd-runner up medals as Taiwan returns to the drawing board, losing all of their last 3 matches.
 |
| Undersized big man Chien Chia-Hung led the way for the resilient home team. (image from Basketball-tpe.org) |
JAPAN over JORDAN, 77-73
JPN 77 - Shonaka 24, Nishimura 23, Matsui 9, Ota 6, Hinkley 4, Sakai 4, Arao 3, Kamata 2, Togashi 2, Noguchi 0
JOR 73 - Al-Sous 17, Abbaas 15, Wright 12, Al-Khas 11, Al-Faraj 7, Abu Quora 6, Abbas 5, Abu Ruqayah 0, Soobzokov 0
QS: 17-21, 30-30, 49-55, 77-73
- Japan closes out the Jones Cup with a better-than-expected 5th place finish, defeating the Jordanians for the second time.
- Super snipers Takeki Shonaka, KJ Matsui and Fumio Nishimura made a total of 10 triples that helped Japan stay close to Jordan and eventually eke out the win.
- Jordan's Tab Baldwin chose to rest some key players, with both Sam Dahglas and AJ Zaghab not playing. Zaid Abbas and Enver Soobzokov, meanwhile, played a total of 18 minutes only.
- Japan's B Team gave a good account of themselves over the course of the past 9 days, and if this is the future of Japanese hoops, then it sure looks might promising.
- On the other hand, the Jordanians were probably the most inconsistent team here. They beat Korea and the Philippines, but struggled against Taiwan and Japan. It seems that consistency will be the biggest issue if they want to make a splash in next months Olympic qualifier.
 |
| Once again, Takeki Shonaka showed the way for the overachieving Japanese. (image from Basketball-tpe.org) |
 |
| Fumio Nishimura saved his best game for last in defeating the powerhouse Jordanians. (image from Basketball-tpe.org) |
I.R. IRAN over SOUTH KOREA, 66-59
IRN 66 - Haddadi 35, Sahakian 13, Davari 7, Davoudi 4, Veisi 2, Barogh 2, Nabipoor 2, Davarpanah 1
KOR 59 - Kim JS 19, Stevenson 15, Yang DG 13, Ha 4, Kang 3, Oh 2, Cho 2, Kim YH 1, Lee 0, Kim JK 0
QS: 20-15, 34-37, 48-47, 66-59
- The Iranians relied on (who else?) Hamed Haddadi to carry them to a third straight Jones Cup crows as Korea simply ran out of answers for the NBA big man.
- Haddadi scored more than half of his team's output, but he made his presence felt in other way as he collected 18 boards and blocked 7 shots. Iran seems all the more invincible since Haddadi was able to lead them to victory without its top wingmen Samad Nikkhah Bahrami and Hamed Afagh.
- A cause for concern, however, is swingman Saman Veisi being carried off the playing area on a stretcher after injuring his right leg. The injury looked serious and he might miss some serious time.
- Korea, after finishing atop the heap just two days ago, ends up with the silver. They shot poorly from the 2pt area and, frankly, just couldn't contain Haddadi. Their own giant, Ha Seung-Jin, was severely outplayed. The former Trailblazer finished with just 4 points on 2-of-10 Fg shooting.
- Korea goes home with a respectable 1st runner-up finish as Iran pockets yet another golden trophy. It seems Iran is on-track for another memorable run in the 2011 FIBA-Asia.
 |
| Ha Seung-Jin proved to be no match for Iran's towering center Hamed Haddadi. (image from Basketball-tpe.org) |
 |
| I.R. Iran captures the elusive Jones Cup 3-peat after convincingly beating the top-seeded Koreans. (image from Basketball-tpe.org) |
FINAL STANDINGS:
Champs: I.R. IRAN
2nd: SOUTH KOREA
3rd: SMART-GILAS PILIPINAS
4th: TAIWAN
5th: JAPAN
6th: JORDAN
7th: MALAYSIA
8th: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
0 Comment