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| Gary David shot his way to fourteen points, helping Team Pilipinas advance to the semifinals. |
It was an
interesting series of quarterfinal matches on Day 6 of the 2012 FIBA Asia Cup.
As expected, Iran had an easy time against Uzbekistan, while the Filipinos were
true to form in disposing of a strong challenge from Taiwan. In contrast, the
Lebanese floundered in the biggest upset of the tourney so far in their loss to
Qatar, while Japan showcased their edge in experience as they dismantled the
Chinese.
In related
news, the FIBA-Asia Executive Committee finally decided on a venue for the 2013
FIBA-Asia Men’s Championship. Asia’s biggest basketball tournament will be held
NOT in Manila, but in Beirut, Lebanon. More on this strange decision after the
game recaps below.
IRAN over UZBEKISTAN, 79-37
Team Iran,
outplaying Uzbekistan in virtually every aspect of the game, barged into the
semifinals with much ease. The WABA powerhouse limited the CABA squad to just
25% FG shooting, forced them to 19 turnovers, and outrebounded them, 50-38.
Asghar Kardoust was unstoppable in 17 minutes of play, scoring 12 points and
grabbing 8 rebounds, while Aren Davoudi and Mohammad Jamshidi paired up for 21
points in the backcourt. Young big man Saleh Foroutan also did well, accounting
for 9 markers and 10 boards. Star wingmen Samad Nikkhah Bahrami and Hamed Afagh
didn’t need to play much here as the Uzbeks didn’t really put up much
resistance. Nobody scored in double-digits for Coach Oleg Levin as Vyacheslav
Denisov had a team-high 9 points.
 |
| Behnam Yakhchali goes up strong against the taller Uzbeks. |
 |
| Shuhrat Tangrikulov and the Uzbeks get the boot after losing to Iran. |
IRI 79 – Kardoust 12, Davoudi 11,
Jamshidi 10, Arghavan 10, Foroutan 9, Aslani 6, Yakhchali 6, Sedighi 4,
Mashayekhi 4, Bahrami 4, Afagh 3, Sahakian 0
UZB 37 – Denisov 9, Yahin 8, Timofeev
6, Kozlov 5, Nuraliev 4, Juginisov 2, Safarov 2, Kadirov 1, Tangrikulov 0, Nabiev
0, Shatrov 0, Rahimov 0
QS: 17-13, 32-16, 59-25, 79-37
PHILIPPINES over TAIWAN,
75-68
Marcus
Douthit carried the Philippine cause for three quarters before LA Tenorio
rediscovered the form that enabled him to cop the MVP trophy of the 2012 Jones
Cup. Tenorio scored all 9 of his points
in a stirring fourth quarter as the Pinoys withstood a stiff challenge from the
determined Taiwanese. Gary David and Jeff Chan also hit big threes in the
payoff period that saw Team Pilipinas erect a 14-point bubble, 71-57, with just
4 minutes to go. Taiwan countered with a brilliant 9-0 spurt to trim the lead
to just 5 with under two minutes to go, but they would never get closer than
that. Coach Chot Reyes of the Philippines bemoaned his team’s bad shooting,
which he said they’d need to improve if they harbor any dreams of moving past
Iran in the semis.
 |
| Ranidel De Ocampo uses his left hand to avoid the outstretched arm of Wu Tai-Hao. |
 |
| Lin Chih-Chieh flies for an uncontested lay-up. |
PHI 75 – Douthit 19, David 14, De
Ocampo 10, Tenorio 9, Fonacier 9, Dillinger 5, Chan 5, Norwood 4, Thoss 0
TPE 68 – Creighton 21, Lin 12, Chen SC
11, Tien 7, Wu 6, Mao 4, Lee 3, Chang 3, Tseng 1, Lu 0
QS: 10-13, 38-32, 54-53, 75-68
QATAR over LEBANON, 79-72
In the
biggest upset of the day, Trey Johnson scored 28 points to lead the Qataris
past Group A’s top-seeded team, Lebanon. Johnson, a one-time LA Laker, added 7
assists and 5 rebounds to his tally as Qatar never looked back after taking a
first quarter lead. Mansour El Hadary and Mohd Yousuf Mohammed backstopped
their naturalized import with 14 and 13 points respectively. Coach Tom Wisman’s
wards offset their rebounding disadvantage by shooting 38% from beyond the arc.
This was an ironic ending to the day for Lebanon as they were given news they
would host the 2013 FIBA-Asia tourney in a controversial FIBA-Asia Executive
Committee decision. Karma, perhaps? Or maybe a case of the Lebanese
underplaying, since they knew they no longer needed to win anyway?
 |
| Trey Johnson's 28-point outburst led the Qataris past Lebanon. |
 |
| Fadi El Khatib shot just 12 points in the day's biggest upset. |
QAT 79 – Johnson 28, El Hadary 14,
Mohammed M 13, Daoud 7, Musa 5, Saeed 5, Abdi 4, Salem 3
LIB 72 – Thompson 26, Abdel Nour 24, El
Khatib F 12, Stephan 5, Sarkis 5, Tabet 0, El Khatib C 0, Akl 0
QS: 21-15, 35-35, 59-55, 79-72
JAPAN over CHINA, 60-50
The young
Chinese gave a good effort, but the experience of the Japanese shone through in
the endgame as the hosts advanced to the semifinals by defeating their upstart
foes. China was unable to capitalize on their rebounding edge as they shot just
32% from the field and were forced to commit 20 turnovers. Kosuke Takeuchi led
Japan’s cause with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Ryota Sakurai and Kosuke
Kanamaru tallied 13 and 10 markers respectively. JR Sakuragi had another subpar
offensive game, but he’ll take it as long as his adopted nation’s team claims
victory. Wang Zhelin led China with 15 points and 14 boards, while Guo Ailun
and Zhao Tailong each scored 10 markers.
 |
| Ryota Sakurai scored 13 markers to help Japan stay alive. |
 |
| Wu Ke and the rest of the Chinese struggled against a very determined home side. |
JPN 60 – Takeuchi 18, Sakurai 13,
Kanamaru 10, Tanaka 9, Sakuragi 8, Hiejima 2, Furukawa 0, Ichioka 0, Kurihara 0
CHN 50 – Wang ZL 15, Guo 10, Zhao 10,
Wang ZR 8, Wu 7, Sui 0, Cao Y 0, Duan 0, Yu 0, Zhang 0, Sun 0
QS: 15-16, 31-25, 44-37, 60-50
HAGOP KHAJIRIAN’S
CROSSOVER (OR HOW POLITICS REARED ITS FUGLY HEAD AGAIN)
Misdirection
must be FIBA-Asia Secretary-General Hagop Khajirian’s middle name, or, if it
isn’t, it SHOULD be.
Here’s a guy
who came to the Philippines to check out the state-of-the-art Mall of Asia
Arena. Here’s a guy who told everyone how the competing bids for the hosting
rights to the 2013 FIBA-Asia Men’s Championship from Lebanon and Iran weren’t
serious. Here’s a guy who basically led us on.
I am full of
bitterness, as you can see, but I am damn right to feel bitter. In fact, I URGE
every Filipino to feel this bitter. We lost our bid to a country whose best
possible representatives to an OFFICIAL and FORMAL FIBA-ASIA EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE meeting were four members of its national team in casual clothes.
Red flag?
Apparently not for the FIBA-Asia ExeComm.
I guess I
would be less bitter if I knew exactly how Lebanon’s rag-tag crew upstaged our
all-star cast of basketball executives. Did the aging Fadi El Khatib wax poetic
about how this might be his last tour of duty for the Lebanese side? Did he use
emotional appeal to explain how his country, which botched their previous
chance to hold the Men’s Championship in 2011 (it was moved to Wuhan, China
after Lebanon admitted it was ill-prepared to host), was much better suited to
host next year?
No.
The guy
played a friggin’ CD for the ExeComm to watch.
Wow.
Slow clap
for this guy.
So what
happened here? The only country, the only national basketball organizing body,
to go to GREAT lengths to impress upon FIBA-Asia its deep level of seriousness
and preparedness to hold the biggest and most prestigious basketball event in
Asia gets denied.
A slap in the face.
An unfair
deal.
Misdirection
at its finest.
Politics
trumping integrity.
Doubt cast
over transparency.
All because
Lebanon’s 33-year old superstar, who waltzed into the room wearing a training
shirt, jeans, and sneakers, played a CD.
That must be
some CD.
But hold the
invectives aimed at Mr. Khajirian. He wasn’t the only one in the ExeComm, after
all. According to some sources, five guys voted in favor of Lebanon, two in
favor of the Philippines, and two were deemed invalid (for whatever reason).
What made FIVE PEOPLE choose El Kahatib’s CD over our powerhouse delegation’s
comprehensive presentation?
Was protocol
and formality given any weight? Was degree of preparedness? How about plain and
simple merit?
It appears
not. It appears all those are easily trumped by politics even in the most
distinguished body of Asian basketball.
WHAT. A.
JOKE.
Oh, but
wait. It gets better. There’s a clause that says if Lebanon cannot prepare
well, then Manila will be the alternate choice.
Why thank,
you, FIBA-Asia. Thank you for patronizing us. Thank you for the “oh you’re
nice, but we’ll try this one, first” gesture.
Thank you,
Hayop, oops, Hagop, for your successful misdirection, for your brilliant
crossover move. You juked us one way, only to go the other. What a guy, you
are.
How about
you play me one-on-one, and I’ll show you what a real crossover looks like,
huh?
I am bitter.
I know
Manila deserves this, worked the hardest to prove it was ready. THE HARDEST I
TELL YOU.
And for
what? To be duped.
Now you guys
have really pissed us off.
I guess
we’ll just have to beat your behinds in your own home turf.
Yeah. That
would be EXTRA SWEET.
Wait for it.
You’ll get your just deserts.
For another
strongly worded piece on this farce, read this Quinito Henson article on PhilStar.com.
All images are by Milad Payami/FIBAAsia.net.
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