Jordan rallied late in the game to surge past the Philippines 75-61 Saturday to reach the final of the Asian Championships, with Rasheim Wright leading the way with 24 points. It will face host and favorite China, which beat South Korea 56-43 in the late semifinal. After knocking out two-time reigning champion Iran in a major upset Friday, Jordan's coach Tab Baldwin has got his team playing great half-court offense and a tough, switching defense at just the right time. “I am really excited for this team to have the wonderful privilege to play in the final of the Asian Championships,” an overjoyed Baldwin said. “This means a lot for our team, for our country and for our fans. Whatever team stands in front of us tomorrow (Sunday), we are going to hit them hard.” Baldwin credited Jordan's rise to a newfound team chemistry and defensive cohesion that emerged following losses to both the Philippines and China in the preliminary rounds. That defense forced the Philippines to shoot a poor 31 percent from the field, including three of 23 three-point attempts, while the Jordanians scored 18 points off 16 Filipino turnovers. “We expected that they would play better than the first game, they are more experienced than us,” Philippine coach Rajko Toroman said of a Jordan team which placed third in the 2009 championship. “If you are shooting poorly like we did, it is really difficult to win the game.” China big men Yi Jianlian and Wang Zhizhi inspired their side to a win over South Korea in the low-scoring physical battle that thrilled the home crowd. Yi and Wang scored 11 of the team's final 15 points with a range of interior and perimeter shots, while a hustling defense stifled the Korean shooters all night long. Washington Wizard Yi scored 17 points, while former Dallas Maverick Wang had 15. The only bright spot for the losers was the play of point guard Yang Dong-geun who scored 17 points on the night. At stake in Sunday's final is Asia's only automatic berth to the 2012 London Olympics, while the silver and bronze medalists will compete in an Olympic qualifying tournament next year. China has won 14 Asian basketball championships and represented the region at every Olympiad since 1976. Iran, meanwhile, beat Taiwan 98-66 to finish 5th in the tournament, while Lebanon beat Japan 80-78 to claim the 7th spot. Iran's players Saturday also blasted teammate Hamed Haddadi after some crucial mistakes by the Memphis Grizzlies center in their shock quarterfinal loss to Jordan at the Asian Championships.
