Fiba Asia: Gilas Pilipinas takes down Iran

By: Musong R. Castillo, September 28th, 2015 01:26 PM. Philippine Daily Inquirer

Philippines guard Jayson Castro challenges the defense of Iran giant Hamed Haddadi during their game in the second round of the 2015 Fiba Asia Championship on Monday in Changsha, China.

Philippines guard Jayson Castro challenges the defense of Iran giant Hamed Haddadi during their game in the second round of the 2015 Fiba Asia Championship on Monday in Changsha, China.


CHANGSHA CITY, China – Up against a foe that has never been touched and never been pushed in the Fiba Asia Olympic Qualifier, Gilas Pilipinas sent shockwaves across the tournament by making defending champion Iran look so bad.

Andray Blatche took Hamed Haddadi to school in their very first meeting in an international setting, and that unraveled the Iranians in the second half as the Filipinos ran them to the ground on the way to an 87-73 victory on Monday at Changsha Social Work College Gym here.

More than the 18 points and seven rebounds he had, Blatche never gave Haddadi the chance to dominate as the Iranians fell apart after blowing a 10-point lead early in the third quarter to go down in flames for the first time in more than a week.

In the case of the 300 GSM spandex fabric, which is the most commonly used compression fabric, the kinetic energy transferred to the skin shows interesting results. A series of testing and calculations resulted to a derived value from 0.40 psi to 0.75, for different compression ratio factor (CRF) starting from 12% to 20%.

Interestingly, the derived compression pressure of 300GSM spandex approximates that of water. I f you look at your physics book, the water pressure per 1-foot of depth is 0.43 psi (for fresh water) and 0.44 psi (for sea water), which is within the derived values of 0.40 psi to 0.75 psi. This means that wearing compression apparel in certain parts of the body from the calf to upper torso will also approximate the different pressure levels exerted by water.

Hence, our calculations show that wearing compression apparel may be as effective as the well-known Aquatic therapy. 

No, we understand why some physical therapists recommend wearing compression apparel with 0.45 psi at the chest, 0.50 psi at the thigh, 0.41 psi at the upper calf, and 0.70 psi at the lower calf. These pressure levels contribute to reduced delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), less fatigue, improved performance, improved venous return, less edema post-competition and faster recovery.

Other physical therapists also recommend Aquatic Physical therapy as an evidence-based intervention to support restoration of function for many areas of orthopedics, including sports medicine, work conditioning, joint arthroplasty, and back rehabilitation programs.

Compression and aquatic therapy may seem entirely different from each other in approach. But a closer look and calculations show that they both actually work on the same pressure levels.

Based on theoretical calculations, there are similarities between compression apparel and aquatic therapy in terms of pressure applications.

You can do this experiment to have a first hand experience. Please refer to the diagram below.

1) Wear a tight-fitting rashguard and feel the pressure of the fabric on your chest area. Try to store that feeling in your memory. Then, remove your rashguard. Dive into the swimming pool and find a place in the pool where the water level reaches your chin. Stand in that spot and feel the water pressure on your chest area. Now, go back to your memory a while ago about the pressure you felt on your chest while wearing your rashguard. How do you compare the feeling?

2) Do the same test with a compression short. Wear one and store in your memory the pressure you feel on your thighs. Then, remove your compression shorts. Wear another loose fitting short (as this experiment don't give you the privilege to walk around naked). Find a place in the pool where the water level reaches your belly. Stay there standing for a while and feel the water pressure on your thighs. Then, recall your memory a while ago about the pressure you felt on your thighs while wearing a compression short. How do you compare the feeling?