The win advanced the Iranians, who beat the Philippines Saturday, to Group I of the quarterfinals, most likely with Lebanon, Qatar and Taipei, while shoving the Jordanians into a do-or-die with SMC-RP for the right to join, probably, Japan, Kazakhstan and South Korea in Group II.
Palma, who found no need for a microphone offered him at the interview table, was piqued that top teams from other groups are “winning by 40, 50 points and getting to rest their key men,” while the heightened pressure to excel in Group A – composed of China, Iran, Jordan, Philippines -- have been causing unnecessary injuries to their respective players .
The Philippines had earlier in the day eliminated defending champion China, 79-64, with at least three players hurting, including center Asi Taulava (ankle sprain) and forward Danny Seigle, who sat out the game with leg cramps suffered in the loss to Iran .
China, Jordan and Iran finished first, third and fourth in the Doha Asian Games last year, and an agitated Palma wondered out loud how all three teams could be lumped together in one group for the preliminary round of the FIBA-Asia Men’s, formerly the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Championship.
“It’s a big joke!” he boomed. “And add to that, they placed the Philippines, which sent professional players, in the same group. Ridiculous! ”
Palma said the loser of Monday’s knockout game between Jordan and the Philippines “is good enough to reach the finals and win the championship.”
Asked how such an imbalance was created, Palma said, “I don’t know. You have to ask them. I’m a coach, not a politician. But I think they could have done something about it, if they wanted to.”
The top four finishers in the 2005 FIBA-Asia (China, Lebanon, Qatar, South Korea) were distributed to each of the four preliminary groups. The bracketing for the remaining 11 teams, Japan excluded, were drawn two weeks before the tournament.
Japan, as host, was allowed to choose its bracket and opted to be in the relatively weak Group B, in the company of Lebanon, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.
