2013 FIBA Asia Championship: Iran thrash India 102-58

India were trashed by Iran in their first game in the second round of the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship, held at Manila, Philippines.

India qualified for the second round on Saturday and were put into Group F with five other teams – Iran, Kazakhstan, Bahrain, Korea and China. The points from the first round were carried over and India found themselves in fifth spot with only China below them.

Iran and Kazakhstan topped the group after being unbeaten in the first round, with Iran – who are the favourites for the tournament – having a better point’s difference. In round two, teams would only play against teams they hadn’t faced yet. India kicked off their second round campaign against Iran, followed by China and Korea over the next two days.

India had to watch out for Iran’s Hamed Haddadi, their agile 7’2” centre, who was the top scorer of the tournament so far (he was also the first Iranian player to play in the NBA for the Phoenix Suns).

And he looked determined to score against India as he opened the scoring in the first quarter with an easy bucket in the paint followed by an uncontested 3-pointer! Iran looked like a complete team – they had size, speed and good shooters on the floor, coupled with an organised defence.

The Indians struggled to make much headway in the first quarter and turned over the ball regularly. They were up to the task as Amjyot Singh sank a huge three, followed by a quick fast break from Narender Kumar Grewal.

But the Iranians were relentless in both attack and defence, and slowly built a strong lead with a barrage of 3-pointers. Calls were not going India’s way and the first quarter ended with Iran leading 25-12.

India further fell back at the start of the second quarter as they failed to take advantage of a lot of rallies. They missed a number of lay-ups and fast break opportunities and did not have rebounders to get any second chance points. Meanwhile, Iran were just too quick for the Indians and wreaked havoc on the Indian defence, nailing shots from all corners of the court.

Satnam Singh was brought into the game to take on Haddadi. But India struggled to even move the ball to the offensive end conceded possession on numerous ossasions. The first half ended with Iran having a commanding 51-22 lead over India.

Hadadi and Nikkhah Bahrami had 12 points each for Iran while Vishesh Bhriguvanshi was India’s top scorer with seven. Interestingly, Iran had shot seven 3-pointers in the first half alone.

Iran continued to dominate the game in the third quarter as they played some superb transition basketball to deny India any easy baskets, while they also scored with ease at the other end.

The game got a bit more physical (and vocal) as Iran were whistled for two technical fouls (with the Iranian coach Mehmed Becirovic picking one). But the Indian defence fell apart as the Iranians converted wide open jump shots and unchallenged lay-ups.

Iran had relaxed a bit on defence by this point but they still had a huge 78-39 lead by the end of the third.

With the game already won for Iran, the fourth quarter went by quickly with nothing much to note. There were a few good shots and passes made by the Indians form Grewal, Amjyot Singh and Joginder Singh as Iran played their bench players with all five starters sitting out.

But Iran continued to score from behind the arc. And with no chance of getting back into the game, coach Scott Flemming also put in India’s bench players as Iran crossed the 100-point mark. The final score at the end of the game was Iran 102-58 India.

Five Iranian players scored in double figures with Hamed Afagh scoring 16 points followed by Bahrami (15), Hamed Sohrabnejad (14), Asghar Kardoust (12) and Hadadi (12). For the Indians, Bhriguvanshi was the top scorer with 15 points while Grewal and Amjyot Singh chipped in with 10 points each.

India’s next game is against China tomorrow.