2009 FIBA Asia Championship
The 2009 FIBA Asia Championship for Men was the biennial Asian continental championship and also served as the FIBA Asia qualifying tournament for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. The tournament was held from August 6 to 16, 2009 in Tianjin, China.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | China |
| City | Tianjin |
| Dates | 6–16 August |
| Teams | 16 |
| Venue(s) | 2 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Iran (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | China |
| Third place | Jordan |
| Fourth place | Lebanon |
| Tournament statistics | |
| MVP | Hamed Haddadi |
| Top scorer | Rasheim Wright (20.7 points per game) |
Iran managed to win its second straight FIBA Asia Championship by defeating China 70–52 in the final, although China's premier NBA superstar Yao Ming did not play due to an injury in the 2008-09 NBA season, which caused him to not play in that year's FIBA Asia Championship for China. Jordan defeated Lebanon 80–66 in the bronze medal game to claim the third and final automatic bid for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Both Iran and Jordan qualified for the FIBA World Championship for the first time while China qualified for the eighth time in the last nine World Championship tournaments, this time without center Yao Ming. Lebanon failed to qualify automatically for a third consecutive world championship, although FIBA later awarded them a wild card to the tournament.
Iranian center Hamed Haddadi was named Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive tournament after leading Iran to its second consecutive title by averaging 15.8 points, 13.1 rebounds, and 4 blocks per game during the tournament.