By: Elyrose S. Naorbe
Despite of their loss
in FIBA Finals 2013 against Iran, 85-71, Team Gilas Pilipinas are very thankful
to those Filipino fans who keep on praying and always supporting them throughout
their FIBA tourney.
Almost 20,000 people including Pres. Benigno Aquino and
other well known celebrities witnessed the FIBA Finals. They were part as the
crowd keeps on yelling and cheering for our own players.
The crowd becomes intense as Samad Nikkah Bahrami opened the
game with a long two but Gilas replied with multiple good looks at the basket
but their shots refused to fall inside the ring.
Two free throws from Jeff Chan at the 7:51 mark of the first finally got the locals on the board, tying the game at 2-all as well.
Since naturalized Douthit could not play due to his injury, Castro faced Haddadi with an exchanged inside baskets to start the second quarter. This was quickly followed by Jimmy Alapag and Mahdi Kamrany cold-blooded triples.
The game was stopped at that point as the scoreboard malfunctioned. The two teams had to shoot around to stay warm while waiting for the scoreboard to function again.
When play resumed, the undeniably giant, Haddadi scored again on the low block. LA Tenorio however replied with a three to cut Iran's lead down to five points.
There were low scoring finals happened and both team especially the Philippines struggled in outside perimeter jumper after missing shots. They could not drive under net because of Iran’s defensive post.
Two free throws from Jeff Chan at the 7:51 mark of the first finally got the locals on the board, tying the game at 2-all as well.
Since naturalized Douthit could not play due to his injury, Castro faced Haddadi with an exchanged inside baskets to start the second quarter. This was quickly followed by Jimmy Alapag and Mahdi Kamrany cold-blooded triples.
The game was stopped at that point as the scoreboard malfunctioned. The two teams had to shoot around to stay warm while waiting for the scoreboard to function again.
When play resumed, the undeniably giant, Haddadi scored again on the low block. LA Tenorio however replied with a three to cut Iran's lead down to five points.
There were low scoring finals happened and both team especially the Philippines struggled in outside perimeter jumper after missing shots. They could not drive under net because of Iran’s defensive post.
Castro added points by
his quick lay-up over Haddadi, but the big man replied with a three-point play
at the 2:45 mark for a 35-29 count in their favor. Undaunted, De Ocampo scored
on a floater to cut the lead down to four points.
Before the halftime buzzer, Fonacier's exclamation triple ignited the crowd and brought Iran's lead down to a single point, 35-34.
Before the halftime buzzer, Fonacier's exclamation triple ignited the crowd and brought Iran's lead down to a single point, 35-34.
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| Castro looks for a teammate after being chased by three Iranian giants. Photo source: Internet |
Halftime, Castro led
Gilas with 10 points, while De Ocampo added five. Haddadi led Iran with 11
points as he dominated the Philippine interior taking advantage of Douthit’s
absence.
Iran, still playing
with good momentum, went on another run to build a 53-43 lead, before a reverse
from Pingris trimmed the difference down to eight points. Nikkah Bahrami made
two free throws at the 2:02 mark to answer a triple from Jeff Chan, as Iran led
57-48 at that point. Larry launched another triple and cut Iran's lead down to
six points.
Alapag nailed two free throws to cut Iran's lead down to just six points
but Kamrany sank a buzzer-beating trey to give Iran a 62-53 lead heading into
the last quarter trim the lead back down to 14 points.
In the last quarter, Tenorio made a triple to bring the lead down to 13 at 72-59, halfway into the final quarter. Haddadi was then whistled for basket interference to get Gilas within 11, but the 7'2" giant got in his own miss to establish a 13 point lead. A lot of free throws were awarded to the Iranians thus, earning so many points and Gilas could not close the lead. The ball game ended as the giants emerged victoriously after firing off Gilas posting the final 85-71 score.
In the last quarter, Tenorio made a triple to bring the lead down to 13 at 72-59, halfway into the final quarter. Haddadi was then whistled for basket interference to get Gilas within 11, but the 7'2" giant got in his own miss to establish a 13 point lead. A lot of free throws were awarded to the Iranians thus, earning so many points and Gilas could not close the lead. The ball game ended as the giants emerged victoriously after firing off Gilas posting the final 85-71 score.
Despite of their loss, Team Philippines will still be playing in the FIBA World Cup in Spain next year along with Korea and Iran as Asia’s representative.
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