FIBA Asia: Iran crushes Yi-less China to top Group C
Without main man Yi Jianlian, defending champion China was easy prey for top contender Iran.
Locked and loaded from the get-go, the Iranians romped to a masterful 70-51 victory against the Chinese team Saturday to complete a three-game sweep of Group C in the 27th FIBA Asia cage championship at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Fresh from a 76-65 win over formidable South Korea in a bruising encounter on Friday, Iran hardly got any resistance from a Mainland squad visibly missing the services of the 7-foot Yi, who sat out his second straight outing due to hamstring and groin injuries.
The emphatic win was the third straight for the Iranians, who reigned supreme in the biennial event in 2007 and 2009, while China dropped its second outing in three games and will enter the next round toting a 0-2 record.
Towering center Hamed Hadadi topscored anew with 15 points, nine coming in the second canto, on top of seven rebounds and a block, but it was the exploits of forward Nikkah Bahrami and do-it-all forward Oshin Sahakian that enabled the Iranians to cruise to the one-sided win.
Gunner Wang Shipeng was the lone Chinese to reach double figures with 11 points.
The Main Man: Samad Nikkah Bahrami proved Iran isn’t all about Hamed Hadadi.
Showcasing his offensive prowess early on, the 6-foot-6 forward was uncontainable as he scored 10 big points in anchoring the team’s jarring 17-4 start.
The 30-year-old Bahrami then took the backseat offensively and set up the table for his teammates, racking up five of his game-high eight assists in the third canto.
Honorable Mention: While Hadadi, Bahrami and guard Mahdi Kamrany are providing the offensive punch, Oshin Sahakian is emerging as Iran’s version of Gilas Pilipinas’ Marc Pingris.
A virtual unknown, the 6-foot-7 forward came up with 13 points, all but two of them coming in the first 20 minutes, and hauled down seven rebounds, four of the offensively.
Game Turning Point: What was expected to be a tight battle quickly turned into a virtual workout for the Iranians.
Iran, with Bahrami leading the charge, racked up 17 of the game’s first 21 points and employed suffocating defensive blanket that threw the Chinese squad off-balanced offensively.
The Iranians continued to pour it on in the second canto, with the 7-foot-2 Hadadi asserting himself in the paint, and took a big 41-24 lead at the break.
The closest China could get was at 43-54 early in the fourth off a Wang Shipeng jumper but Hadadi buckled down to work anew with five quick points then his teammates finished off the job in style.
They Said It:
Iran coach Mehmed Becirovic: “It’s a good game. We made a lot of mistakes in this game but I’m happy because we won. My team showed lots of energy and the will to win. We need to think about the (future) games now and try to improve our game. When you see the result, it seems easy but it’s not. He (Sahakian) brings energy. All coach likes such a player who’s putting himself for the team. ”
China coach Panagiotis Giannakis: “Today we played a very bad game. We didn’t start well. We made a lot of mistakes. It was a very bad night for us. Give credit to Iran, they controlled the game.”
The scores:
Iran (70) – Hadadi 15, Sahakian 13, Afagh 12, Bahrami 10, Sohrabnejad 6, Kardoust 6, Kamrany 3, Davoudichegani 3, Arghavan 0, Davari 0, Jamshidijafarabadi 0.
China (51) – Wang Shipeng 11, Wang Zhizhi 9, Zhou Peng 6, Wang Zhelin 6, Li Xiaoxu 6, Liu Xiaoyu 6, Zhu Fangyu 4, Guo Ailun 3, Chen Jianghua 0, Sun Yue 0, Zhang Bo 0.
Quarterscores: 26-16, 41-24, 54-41, 70-51.
