JOR/IRI – Jordan slay the giant!

WUHAN (FIBA Asia Championship) – Sam Daghles and Jordan have created the upset of the FIBA Asia Championship, defeating Iran 88-84 to knock out the two-time defending champions and take one giant step towards the London Olympics.

Daghles was incredible, collecting 23 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals in 37 minutes.

Jordan Coach Tab Baldwin paid tribute to his point guard, and said his influence had gone beyond what he did on the court.

“Sam said some very inspirational words before the game,” Baldwin said. 

“About how the country has done so much for the players, and how it is their responsibility and they should be enthusiastic about the opportunity to pay something back, and this was the time to do that. And they did.”

Zaid Alkhas (14 points, 4/7 three-pointers), the pair of Rasheim Wright and Wesam Al-Sous (12 points each) as well as Zaid Abbas (10 points, 7 rebounds) provided strong support for their leader.

Hamed Hadadi was outstanding for Iran with 27 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, and while Mahdi Kamrany (14 points), Arsalen Kazemi (13 points, 16 rebounds) and Hamed Afagh (12 points) all played well, Iran simply didn’t match the disciplined execution of Jordan over the 40 minutes.

Iran led 17-11 after seven minutes, but it was only Jordan’s poor conversion that allowed such a lead, so when Daghles sparked his team’s dangerous running game Jordan unleashed a 9-2 run to finish the quarter.

Baskets to Alkhas and Abbas started the second quarter, and when Alkhas nailed his first three-pointer of the tournament the score was 28-22.

Iran gradually pegged the lead back despite their poor free-throw shooting, and a spurt from Kazemi to end the term gave the defending champions a 36-35 half time lead.
 
A Wright-Abbas fastbreak turned into a three-point play to start the third quarter, and when Abbas soared down the middle for a one-handed slam the margin was back out to six points. Afagh responded with two straight three-pointers and the flow of the quarter had been established.

Only Abbas going to the bench with his fourth foul, and two sweet triples from Afagh allowed Iran to edge to a 62-57 lead at the last break.

Two Hadadi baskets on offensive rebounds to open the final period saw Iran take control, leading 71-64 with six minutes to play.

But two enormous triples from Al-Sous led a two minute Jordanian charge to cut the margin to one point.

With 2:30 to play an Enver Soobzokov floater put Jordan in front, only for Hadadi to respond immediately.

Alkhas wasn’t done though, nailing a clutch three to put Jordan back in the lead.

When Hadadi committed an open court unsportsmanlike foul with 33 seconds remaining Daghles extended the lead to four.
 
Daghles coolly made 6/8 free throws to seal the victory and Jordan celebrated on court like it was 1999!

Iran coach Veselin Matic was a downcast figure after the game, but paid tribute to a Jordan team he knew would present an enormous challenge.

“In terms of mental preparation, we have never played an easy game against Jordan,” he said.

“We knew we were playing a tough team in Jordan. I am not happy with the result, all my players went out there to win, went out there to fight, and none of us are happy with this.”

Baldwin made a point of acknowledging Iran’s dominance in recent years.

“Iran has been dominant, certainly in West Asia, for the past four years. Coach Matic has done a great job, he is a great guy, the team is a bunch of great guys,” he said.

“It’s tough for them to go home now, not only when you have expectations on yourself, but everyone else has expectations on you. Condolences to those guys, but they have sent a lot of teams home in the past, so I guess it is their turn now.”

Jordan will next face the winner of Chinese Taipei and the Philippines in the Semi-Finals.

Paulo Kennedy

FIBA