GILAS-PILIPINAS SETTLES FOR SILVER
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 12 Aug 2013
The absence of naturalized center Marcus Douthit had a great effect at the middle of Gilas-Pilipinas as NBA veteran Hamed Haddadi led Iran to the title of the FIBA-Asia Championship at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. The Persians showed sufficient firepower in the second half of the game to slip past the Philippines, 85-71 in the finals.
Haddadi was awarded the Most Valuable Player of the tournament and the best center slot in the Mythical Five. The 7-2 giant dominated the paint with 29 points and 16 rebounds.
But the other teams being massacred by Iran right at the first half, Gilas stood its ground and fought furiously amidst the outrageous cheers of the home fans. Iran led only by two points in the first period, 17-15.
At the halftime the lead was cut to a solitary point, 35-34 by a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Larry Fonacier.
In the third period, the Iranians made their move as they surge to a 10-2 blast. Jeff Chan and Jimmy Alapag retaliated just to keep the lead within striking distance.
Mahdi Kamrani drilled in a three-pointer at the end of the third quarter to pull the Iranians ahead by nine, 62-53.
The energy-sapping game of Gilas against the Koreans took its toll on the Filipinos in the final period. Their three points shots just did not find the range. An 8-1 Iran rally bloated their advantage to 16 points, the biggest in the finals. Marc Pingris felt the injury he sustained during the semifinal game.
Jayson Castro William provided the spark plug for the Gilas as he fearlessly penetrated the towering defense of the Persian behemoths. But Iran was simply unstoppable because of the height advantage. They maintained the lead until the final buzzer.
?Nothing made me prouder than our effort tonight,? said Gilas coach Chot Reyes as quoted by interAKTV. ?Without Marcus Douthit, we took Iran to the limit.?
Castro top scored the Gilas team with 18 points and landed as the number one point guard in the Mythical Five.
Oshin Sahakian had 12 points and 11 rebounds and joined as the top power forward in the mythical selection. The other members were Kim Mingoo of South Korea and Lin Chi-Chieh of Chinese-Taipei.
The Arena was once again filled to the rafters with a host of VIP's led by President Benigno Aquino III, Vice President Jejomar Binay, Congressman Manny Pacquiao and several other politicians, sportsmen and celebrities.
Still the Philippine flag was hoisted as silver medal winners together with those of Iran as gold medalists and South Korea, bronze medal conquerors over Chinese-Taipei. All three teams will join the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 in Spain.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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