Longtime rivals Gilas Pilipinas and Iran are set to battle each other again in the Asian Games quarterfinals after the latter beat India in the preliminary round.
The Philippines was able to skip the qualifying round and automatically qualify to the preliminaries, winning over India 85-76 on September 23 to finish in the top two of Group E. Iran also secured a spot in the top two, after making short work of the Indians 76-41. In World Cup rankings, Iran is currently No. 20 while Philippines is No. 31.
The game will commence at 1 a.m. ET on Thursday, September 25, at the Hwaseong Sports Complex Gymnasium in Incheon. Live streaming will be available on Eversport.
Being the current Asian champions, Iran is highly favored to emerge the winner. The two teams last played against each other in July in the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup semifinals, where the Iranians again garnered a 76-55 victory. In a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Iran remains a puzzle that Gilas Pilipinas just cannot solve. It has been 41 years since the Philippines had a win over Iran in an official FIBA game.
The Philippines' previous win over India 85-76 was partly due to the Indians' lack of conditioning, noted several reports. According to coach Chot Reyes of Gilas on an article by Bleacher Report, the Indians were not as fit as they were supposed to be, having played three games in the qualifying round prior to meeting team Pilipinas. Indian big man Singh Amritpal was still dominant in the paint, scoring 16 points and six rebounds despite the presence of Filipino center Marcus Douthit and Junemar Fajardo. This could spell problems in the game against Iran, which features an even more dominant frontcourt, particularly 7'2" Hamed Haddadi, the most powerful center in Asia. Haddadi had obliterated the Philippine under the rim many times in the past.
The same article wrote that news program ANC mentioned in a tweet, "The real test is on Thursday when Iran and everyone's "daddy" Hamed Haddadi battles Gilas. Have no fear, The Kraken (Junemar Fajardo) is here."
India's frontcourt was more powerful which spurred Gilas Philippines to rely primarily on outside shooting to score. If they can successfully convert fast break opportunities and maintain their distance from Haddadi, they can outscore Iran. The Philippines will need to continue to rely on range shooting from the likes of Paul Lee and Jimmy Alapag, using their frontcourt to take second opportunity shots. Solid transition defense will also be vital in securing a win.