No one ever said winning the Asian Games basketball title would be easy. In the case of Gilas Pilipinas, the path to the coveted gold medal entailed navigating through a murderer’s row of high-caliber opposition.
After a surprisingly easy 39-point rout of Qatar in the qualification match for the quarterfinals, the hastily-assembled Gilas squad escaped with back-to-back one-point victories over perennial Asian powerhouses Iran and host China to secure a finals berth for the Philippines.
Only one team stands in the way of Gilas’ march to Asian Games basketball immortality, and that is the only unbeaten team in the competition so far: Jordan. Gilas Pilipinas fell to Jordan on September 30 in the last day of the preliminary round, in a game that was not even close, 62-87.
Eight players in the Jordan roster for the Asian Games saw action in the recent FIBA Basketball World Cup, where the team had the tough luck of being bracketed with the United States and Greece. The Falcons finished last in the World Cup, losing all five games by an average of 21.2 points, although this was padded by their 48-point loss to the US. Jordan kept pace with Greece, New Zealand, Egypt, and Mexico before succumbing in the 4th quarter.
One key player from their World Cup rotation is not in Hangzhou for the Asian Games: 6-foot-8 veteran Zaid Abbas.
Coach Wessam Al-Sous has managed to compensate for their absence with two additions who have proven integral to the Jordanian campaign.
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Six-foot-three Fadi Mustafa, also known as Freddy Ibrahim, torched Gilas with 17 points, built on three triples, while 31-year-old 6-foot-11 naturalized player John Bohannon, a product of NCAA Division I school UTEP Miners, contributed ten points and nine boards.
Their other naturalized player, TNT import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, has proven to be the difference-maker for the Jordan squad, which has looked sharper and deadlier since the World Cup. His all-around brilliance has been on display in five games in the Asian Games, where he has averaged 19.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists.
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However, Gilas Pilipinas cannot fall into the trap of mistaking Jordan as a mere RHJ show. On the contrary, Al-Sous has transformed Jordan into a well-balanced unit.
Four other Jordanians are scoring in double digits in these Asian Games.
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Mustafa has settled in as the team’s premier playmaker, averaging 11.2 points and 4.6 assists while spreading the floor with his outside shooting. Mustafa has formed a potent backcourt partnership with US NCAA Division II product Sami Bzai, who has emerged as Jordan’s designated outside gunner.
Bzai, scoring 14.6 points per game, has already sunk 22 triples in five games.
In their opening outing versus Thailand, Bzai went ballistic from beyond the arc with eight threes made. What makes Bzai a threat that cannot be left undefended is that he is shooting with uncanny accuracy, converting 53-percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
Jordan also boasts a fearsome twin tower that allows Al-Sous the luxury of sliding Hollis-Jefferson to the three-spot to create matchup problems for opposing squads, a fact that Tim Cone acknowledged was one of the chief causes of Gilas’ defeat last Saturday.
Bohannon is a double-double machine with contributions of 12.6 points and 11.6 rebounds.
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Seven-foot Turkish-Jordanian Ahmad Al Dwairi is the team’s second leading scorer with 15.2 points while also grabbing 9.8 boards. Al Dwairi is a veteran of the Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi, the top men’s professional basketball division of the Turkish basketball league system.
Like the Filipinos, the Jordanians have a lot to play for in Friday’s championship match.
This is the first time that Jordan has made the basketball finals of the Asian Games. Legendary names led them twice to top-four finishes: in 1986 in Seoul when they were led by the Barakat brothers Hilal and Murad, and in 2008 in Doha when they were led by one of the best Asian point guards of all time, Sam Daghles. They missed out on the bronze in both editions of the Asian Games. Expect them to go all-out for the win against Gilas.
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The Jordan juggernaut has been running opponents into the ground with their 86.8 points per game, outscoring rivals by an average margin of 24 points. However, they have not been tested in any of their games in Hangzhou. Gilas Pilipinas, on the other hand, has proven they can execute in the clutch when the game is on the line.
Cone is the master of adjustments, and he will surely have an ace or two up his sleeve that could catch Al-Sous by surprise.
Just days before the start of the Asian Games, the prospect of even bagging a medal seemed like a pipe dream given the line-up confusion and the lack of preparation of Gilas Pilipinas. Less than two weeks later, the team has achieved the improbable.
If they can keep the game close and make the Jordanians feel the pressure of a tight championship contest, then the prospect of bringing home a gold might not, after all, be impossible.
