Iran bows out of Fiba Asia after stunning loss to Jordan

Photo from FIBAAsia.net

WUHAN, China – Iran’s proud dominance in Asia came to a painful end Friday in the continent’s Olympic qualifier.

Jordan pulled off a colossal upset in the 26th Fiba Asia Championship, stamping the back-to-back champion Iranians out of the medal round with an 88-84 reversal before a stunned but appreciative crowd at the Wuhan Gymnasium here.

Hardly expecting to advance in the next round, the Jordanians will face Smart Gilas Pilipinas or Chinese Taipei in the semi-finals Saturday where the winner goes for all the marbles in the finals to seize the lone spot on offer for next year’s London Olympics.

“Iran has been dominant the last four years. They sent a lot of teams home in the past and it’s their turn this time,” said Jordan coach Tab Baldwin. “Condolences to those guys.”

In the other quarterfinal matchup, naturalized forward Moon Taejong fired five three-pointers and finished with 17 points as South Korea booked a semi-final ticket with an 86-67 whipping of Japan.

The Koreans take on the winner of the China-Lebanon quarters still being played as of posting time.

Hamed Haddadi’s unsportsmanlike foul on Osama Daghles with 1:05 left triggered the downfall, dashing the hopes of a possible Iranian hat-trick in the Asian championship after seizing the crown in 2007 Tokushima, Japan and 2009 Tianjin.

Daghles, a 6-foot-5 US-born point guard, sank both freethrows for an 82-79 Jordan advantage plus ball possession.

Hamed Afagh then threw an errant lob to the 7-foot-2 Haddadi of the Memphis Grizzlies in the next possession, forcing the Iranians on a fouling spree with 33 seconds remaining.

Daghles sealed it off by making six of eight freethrows, 88-83, while Afagh and Mahdi Kamrany fired desperation clankers with time winding down.

Haddadi, a two-time Fiba Asia MVP, sprained his right ankle after attempting to dunk Kamrany’s intentionally missed freethrow before the buzzer.

“They have a great tournament but we’re not ready to go home yet,” said Daghles, who offered an inspirational talk to his teammates before facing Iran.

“If it’s going to be the Philippines [in the semifinals], it’s going to be a payback game for us.”

Haddadi had 27 points and 14 rebounds, Kamrany added 14 and Rice University’s Arsalan Kazemi, the first Iranian player in the US NCAA, contributed 13 points and 16 boards for the Iranians, who outrebounded Jordan, 52-29, but committed more turnovers, 17-11.

Javad Davari, Iran’s top defender in the backcourt, didn’t play due to a knee injury while Samad Nikkhah Bahrami, who twisted his ankle against Korea in the second round, wasn’t fielded the entire first half.

“We lost two main players in the rotation. Our point guard also gave the ball to the opposing team,” said Iran coach Veselin Matic while shaking his head.

“It’s not a good moment but again congratulations to Jordan and we wish them luck.”

Zaid Abbas’ three-point play and a dunk on a handoff by Daghles put the Jordanians on top, 42-36, before Hamed Afagh canned two three-pointers from the same spot, forcing a deadlock.

Iran regained the lead with another Afagh three sustained by Bahrami’s floater and Haddadi’s followup, and pushed it up to 71-64 on successive Jordan turnovers.

The 6-foot-8 Abbas fouled out halfway into the fourth but instead of losing heart, the Jordanians responded with a fiery windup that stunned the Iranians and the crowd.

In the classification matches for ninth to 12th, United Arab Emirates squeezed an 89-87 win over Malaysia while Syria scored a 97-65 rout of Uzbekistan. UAE and Syria tangle for ninth Saturday.

The Jordanians had a flying start, attacking the hole aggressively and draining several mid-range jumpers for a 31-26 headway.

But Kazemi escaped with a putback on Zaid Abbas and Afagh drilled a three that knotted the count with less than two minutes before the break.

The Iranians entered the dugout protecting a 36-35 edge but it could had been bigger had Haddadi and Kazemi buried their free throws.

Scores

JORDAN 88—Daghles 23, Alkhas 14, Al-Sous 12, Wright 12, Z. Abbas 10, Zaghab 7, Soobsokov 4, Hussein 2, Ruqayah 2, I. Abbas 2.

IRAN 84—Haddadi 27, Kamrany 14, Kazemi 13, Afagh 12, Sahakian 9, Bahrami 8, Davarpanahfard 1, Davoudi 0, Atashi 0.

Quarters: 20-19, 35-36, 57-62, 88-84.