8.01.2013
Hamed Haddadi (R) of Iran, uses his height advantage to full effect versus Min Joe Foong. Nuki Sabio
(Updated 1:03pm) The Iranians are out to win nothing less but the gold medal in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship. They opened the first day of competitions with a 115-25 win over Malaysia, Thursday at the MOA Arena.
"We didn't come into this game wanting to beat Malaysia as much as we did," said Samad Nikkah Bahrami. "We just wanted to play hard and have a good practice because our next games will be against much stronger opponents."Hamed Hadadi led Iran with 21 points and eight rebounds in just 13 minutes of action. He was backed up by Asghar Kardoust with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting.
The Iranians built a 16-3 lead in the first five minutes of the match, then blew the game wide open in the latter part of the first quarter. Hamed Hadadi was perfect from the field with 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting. He also made both his free throws.
Mahdi Kamrany was also on fire early in the game, scoring 10 markers, while Samad Nikkah Bahrami added nine. Iran suffocated Malaysia on defense as they only allowed three first quarter points, for a 42-3 tally following the initial 10 minutes.
Leading by a very comfortable margin, Iran emptied out their bench to cause a dip in their offense in the second period. Hamed Sohrabnejad made a layup at the 3:21 mark of the second to stretch Iran's lead to 51 at 56-5.
An 8-2 run by the Malays closed out the first half, but Iran still led by 45, 58-13, at the break.
By the end of the second quarter, all the players of Iran had logged at least six minutes in the ball game with 11 guys scoring.
Malaysia on the other hand labored on offense, making only five of their 24 shot attempts. Hong Hoong Gan led Malaysia with eight points. Wen Kiong Tong and Tian Yuan Kuek were the only other Malaysian scorers at the half.
In the third, Iran nearly went through the entire period perfect, but conceded a score with 31 seconds left in the penultimate period, to form a 33-3 quarter, 91-15.
Malaysia managed another 10 points in the final canto, but it was just too little, too late.
Hong Hoong Gan was the top-scorer of Malaysia with 11, including a perfect 3-of-3 clip from downtown. He was the only Malaysian to score more than one field goal.
"We thank Malaysia for playing against us because we know it's not easy to play after losing a member of your team," said Iran head coach Mehmed Becirovic. "The result of this game is not that important. We know that we are a much stronger team. I'm happy we were able to use all 12 players to prepare for South Korea and China."
Becirovic was referring to the passing of 25-year-old Jack Ng Kiat Kee, who passed away just last Sunday, due to heart failure. Kiat Kee was supposed to be lined-up by Malaysia for this tourney.
Iran made 61-percent of all their attempts (47-of-77). They also got a huge 24-2 edge in free throw attempts, 31-6 in assists. They also forced their foes into 34 turnovers, while making just 10 miscues themselves.
The final margin also saw a 70-6 difference in points in the paint.
The 90-point difference in the final score was just two points shy of the FIBA World Championship record in terms of margin of victory. In 1974, the Soviet Union defeated Central African Republic 140-48, for a 92-point buffer. - AMD, GMA News
The scores:
IRAN 115 - Haddadi 21, Kardoust 15, Kamrany 12, Jamshidi Jafabaradi 12, Nikkhah Bahrami 11, Sahakian 10, Veisi 9, Davari 8, Afagh 7, Sohrabnejad 4, Arghavan 4, Davoudichegani 2
MALAYSIA 25 - Gan 11, Tong 3, W. Wong 3, Ooi 2, Soo 2, Kuek 2, Mak 2, C. Wong 0, Foong 0, Ng 0, Choo 0
Quarter scoring: 42-3, 58-13, 91-15, 115-25
