S. Korea routs Iran in Independence Cup opener
S. Korea routs Iran in Independence Cup opener
JAKARTA (JP): South Korea, playing an aggressive but sometimes
sloppy game, opened the fifth Independence Cup basketball tourney
with a 71-53 victory against a hesitant Iran here yesterday.
South Korea's triumph came as a mild upset as the pundits had
previously bet on Iran which has a reputation of being one of
Asia's basketball powerhouses.
Iran actually opened with a solid offense until about halfway
through the first half.
Afterwards, however, the Iranians played very poorly and
failed to manifest any confidence against the Koreans who were
more persistent in getting to loose balls and rebounds.
The Koreans, moreover, kept up their fastbreaks and aggressive
penetrations which created mayhem in the entire Iranian defense.
Korean forwards Lee Sang Bum, Hur Ki Young and Lee Byung Rul
played heads-up ball throughout the game, passing the ball around
to loosen up the defense before taking it to the hole.
Mahmood Poorsharafi, Iran's head coach, was obviously upset by
the poor display of his boys, but his strategic maneuvering did
little to bring his team back.
Despite Poosharafi's constant yelling, the Iranians could not
do much against the Koreans, who put an exclamation point on
their fine performance with a basket at the final buzzer.
Cheer
The audience - consisting of about 800 teenagers who were
mostly still wearing their high-school uniforms - seemed to be
somewhat indifferent to the game as some of them chose to cheer
at the Junior National Team and Jakarta Selection players who
were sitting courtside.
The Junior National Team is here to replace the West Java team
which withdrew from the tournament at the last minute.
Sri Sudono Soemarto, the Secretary General of the Indonesian
Basketball Association (Perbasi), had said that West Java's
withdrawal caused some confusion for the organizing committee of
the event.
Some fans at the game yesterday also cheered African-American
player Kirkland Ivory who has been hired by the local Aspac club.
Ivory is also a member of the Jakarta Selection team.
The Russian team, the tourney's favorite and currently number
two in world basketball, faced the Philippines late last night.
The Russians are scheduled to meet Jakarta Selection on
Saturday night. (hdj)