China eliminated from Asian Games basketball contention after Iran lossINCHEON - Seven-time winners China sensationally exited the Asian Games basketball on Sunday, September 28 before the medals battle starts, after being defeated by Iran.
China failed to qualify as one of the top two in their quarter-final pool after losing 75-67 to gold medal favorites in their final game. China's fate was sealed when Japan beat Mongolia 96-70 in the later Group G game.
The basketball-mad Philippines were also dumped out, despite on Sunday beating Kazakhstan who claimed a surprise semi-final slot after South Korea toppled Qatar 65-58 in the final Group H match on Sunday.
The last time China failed to win an Asian Games medal was in 1970 and they have competed in nine consecutive finals since 1978, winning seven of them.
The damage was done on Saturday when a talented but young and inexperienced Chinese team squandered a nine-point half-time lead to be upset by Japan, 79-72.
"We didn't expect that Japan could beat China," Iran's captain Samad Nikkah Bahrami told AFP after a powerful display which saw him lead his team with 14 points, seven assists and three rebounds.
"China are a very good team. I'm telling you, I just played against them. They have a lot of good big guys who can shoot the ball very well."
China's head coach Gong Luming was optimistic that his young side would learn from their run to the quarter-finals in the tournament.
"I know that our players have to improve their shooting. National and international competitions are vastly different," he said.
"They will become better players for this experience."
China's giant 7-foot-1 Zhou Qi registered game highs with 17 points and 11 rebounds, but Iran were up 11-9 after five minutes and they never relinquished the lead.
"They lost this competition because they lost Saturday night," Nikkah Bahrami added.
"They knew they were going to have a hard time against us. They shouldn't have taken it easy against Japan, I think."
Iran's Slovakian coach Mehmed Becirovic echoed his captain's words. "Yes it is a surprise, China and the Philippines," he said.
"I expect it now to be Iran against South Korea in the final and that will be very tough against them with home support."
The Philippines, after defeats to Qatar and South Korea, needed to beat Kazakhstan by 11 points to go through in second spot in the pool. They won but only by two, 67-65.
"We won the game, but really we lost," said a dejected head coach Chot Reyes. Gilas Pilipinas has not won a medal at the Asian Games since a bronze in 1998.
Wednesday's surprise semi-final line up will see Japan play South Korea and Iran play Kazakhstan.
The women's semi-final line-up, also on Wednesday, will follow the form book. South Korea will play Japan and China take on Taiwan.
From
Rappler
Post Merge: September 29, 2014, 06:57:22 PM
Gilas Pilipinas drops classification round match to old Asian powerhouse ChinaThe Philippine national men’s basketball fell to Asian powerhouse China, 78-71, to slip down the 5th to 8th place classification round of the 2014 Asian Games basketball tournament on Monday in Incheon, Korea.
Gilas Pilipinas came back from 19 points down to come to within four in the final period but could not stop a late 8-0 run for China that sealed the contest.
With the loss the Philippines can not finish higher than seventh place, one spot lower than finish in the previous Asian Games in 2010.
Naturalized player Marcus Douthit scored 24 points and grabbed six rebounds while Ranidel De Ocampo, the only other Philippine player in double figures, added 14.
Gilas played the game without Jimmy Alapag and Marc Pingris, who are both suffering from injuries.
China had five players, led by Liu Xiaoyu with 16, in double digit scoring.
The Filipinos kept things close in the first quarter behind six points from Douthit and contributions from all over the roster with seven different players scoring. They still trailed, though, 21-17, after the first 10 minutes.
In the second, China looked like it would break away from the Philippines after a 10-2 run to open the quarter, capped by a three-pointer from Zhao Tailong that made it 31-19 for China.
But Douthit asserted himself in the post and the Filipinos got back to within eight, 42-34, at the half.
Douthit had 16 points and four rebounds at the half.
But China dominated the early goings of the third period with Zhao scoring 10 points, including eight straight China points, in an 18-5 run.
That rally gave the Chinese their biggest lead of the game at 19, 60-41.
But Ranidel De Ocampo had other ideas, scoring in the post and following it up with Gilas’ first three-pointer of the game after going 0-for-5 from long range before that.
De Ocampo would add two more free throws alongside baskets from Douthit and Jared Dillinger as the Philippines closed out the period down by just eight points, 65-53.
Dillinger, who ended the third with a three-point play, also opened the fourth with a basket and Japeth Aguilar scored on a putback right after.
Douthit dunked the ball to put Gilas within just six, 65-59, after the Filipinos scored six unanswered points to start the final period.
But China had a swift response with Zhou Qi scoring and Liu Xiaoyu knocking down a three to restore the lead to a more comfortable 11-point margin, 70-59.
Gilas, though, got some opportunities to run the break and Aguilar and Douthit both finished on easy looks to inch back into the game, 70-63. LA Tenorio added a three-pointer to get to as close as four, 70-66, with 4:43 left to play.
Li Xiaoxu split from the free throw line and, after a charging call on Douthit, Liu added two more free throws to make it 73-66.
Gilas could not buy a basket on the other end and Liu connected on a three-pointer, 76-66, to all but put it away. Zhao slammed the ball home to as an exclamation mark, 78-66, to the China rally.
Tenorio and De Ocampo combined to score the last five points of the game but it wasn’t enough.
The scores:
China (78) – Liu 16, Zhao 14, Zhai 13, Li 13, Guo 10, Zhou Q. 6, Zhou P. 3, Wang 3, Sun 0, Ding 0.
Gilas Pilipinas (71) – Douthit 24, De Ocampo 14, Tenorio 7, Dillinger 7, David 6, Norwood 4, Aguilar 4, Chan 3, Lee 2, Fajardo 0.
Quarterscores: 21-17, 42-34, 65-53, 78-71.
From
InterAksyon
