Nucleus back for Iran

Since the FIBA Asia Championships in Manila last year, Iran has juggled a few players in and out of its national team roster but coach Mehmed Becirovic of Slovenia is sticking to his nucleus of 7-2 Hamed Haddadi, 6-6 Samad Nikkhah Bahrami, 6-1 Mahdi Kamrani, 6-7 Oshin Sahakian and 6-4 Hamed Afagh in looking to capture the country’s first gold medal in basketball at the ongoing Asian Games in Incheon.

Iran has won three of the last four FIBA Asia Championships and beat the Philippines, 85-71, in Manila last year. Four from the FIBA Asia title squad are not in the Asian Games roster, namely, Saman Veisi, Hamed Sohrabnejad, Javad Davari and Aren Davoudichegani. The spots were taken over by Sajjad Mashayekhi, Behnam Yakhchali Dehkordi, Arman Zangeneh and Farid Aslani.

When Iran took the FIBA Asia Cup crown in Wuhan last July, Becirovic welcomed six new players to the lineup – Yakhchali Dehkordi, Mashayekhi, Zangeneh, Arsalan Kazemi, Yonas Lalehzadeh and Mohammad Reza Akbari. And when Iran showed up for the FIBA World Cup in Spain a few weeks ago, Becirovic retained Yakhchali Dekhordi, Mashayekhi, Kazemi and Zangeneh.

Kazemi, the first Iranian to be drafted by an NBA team (second round, Washington, 2013) out of Oregon and Rice, was struck out of the Asian Games cast and replaced by Aslani, a 5-10 guard. So 11 of the 12 players who saw action in Spain are with Becirovic in Incheon. Kazemi won’t be missed as he averaged only 2.5 points in four games at the World Cup.

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The top Iranian performers in Spain were Haddadi (18.8 points, 11.4 rebounds, 29.4 minutes a game), Bahrami (16 points, 1.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists), Kamrani (10.4 points), Afagh (6.8 points, 3.2 rebounds) and Sahakian (4.2 points, 3.2 rebounds). Another major contributor was Mohammed Jamshidi (5.8 points). Jamshidi, 23, is a 6-6 wing who’s the heir apparent to Bahrami. Becirovic realizes that Haddadi, 29, Bahrami, 31, Kamrani, 32, Sahakian, 28 and Afagh, 31, won’t be around forever. Another veteran 6-11 Asghar Kardoust, 28, was scoreless in three games in Spain and may have outlived his usefulness. Aside from Jamshidi, Becirovic is hoping youngsters like Mashayekhi, 20, and Yakhchali Dehkordi, 19, will eventually step in to lead Iran into the future.

Iran and the Philippines didn’t face off at the World Cup as they were both eliminated in the preliminaries out of different groups. Iran lost to Spain, 90-60, Brazil, 79-50, Serbia, 83-70 and France, 81-76, while beating Egypt, 88-73. Four different players led Iran in scoring in four of the five games. Kamrani hit 18 against Spain, Jamshidi 13 against Brazil, Haddadi 29 against Serbia and Bahrami 24 against Egypt and 23 against France. That’s an indication of offensive balance in Becirovic’s system. Iran finished No. 20 in the final standings while the Philippines, also with a 1-4 record, wound up No. 21.

At the recent FIBA Asia Cup, Iran scuttled the Philippines, 76-55, but Gilas played without Jeff Chan, Gabe Norwood, Jayson Castro, Jimmy Alapag and Marc Pingris. Two players from the Philippines’ second place FIBA Asia Championships team are skipping the Asian Games – Larry Fonacier (replaced by Jared Dillinger) and Castro (replaced by Paul Lee).

In head-to-head encounters at the FIBA Asia Championships dating back to 1973, the Philippines has beaten Iran only once in eight meetings – an 88-80 decision in 1973. Since that first battle, Iran has defeated the Philippines six games in a row, 93-86 in 1989, 91-81 in 1991, 68-53 in 1995, 77-76 in 1997, 75-69 in 2007, 88-78 in 2009 and 85-71 last year.

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This afternoon, the Philippines and Iran slug it out in Group E at the 5,158-seat Hwaseong Sports Complex. The winner will take pole position entering the quarterfinals. If the Philippines wins, Gilas will likely join China, Mongolia and Qatar in the next round robin. The top two finishers of that four-team bracket will advance to the semifinals. The other quarterfinal bracket will probably consist of Iran, South Korea, Kazakhstan and Japan. If the Philippines tops its quarterfinal bracket, it will play No. 2 in the other bracket, possibly South Korea, with the survivor moving on to play possibly Iran in the finals.

Iran has never won a gold in basketball at the Asian Games. China has bagged six of the last seven titles. Iran has brought back two bronzes in 2006 and 2010 but is yet to make an appearance in the finals. So expect Becirevic to make a strong push for history in Incheon.

The duel between Haddadi and Gilas’ Marcus Douthit will be the main focus of today’s confrontation. Douthit didn’t play against Iran at the FIBA Asia Championships last year because of a banged-up leg and in Wuhan last July, was bothered by early foul trouble in his battle with Haddadi. Douthit finished with six points and eight rebounds in 21:04 while Haddadi had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists in 32:08. Douthit gets another chance to outshine Haddadi in today’s contest.

Iran’s Big Three of Haddadi, Bahrami and Kamrani is Asia’s equivalent of San Antonio’s Big Three of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginonili and Tony Parker. The key is to put pressure on Haddadi offensively and defensively. Douthit will no doubt have his hands full in trying to contain Haddadi but JuneMar Fajardo should help out. Norwood might be coach Chot Reyes’ defender against Kamrani with Dillinger assigned to Bahrami or vice-versa. The matchups are critical. Without Castro, Gilas won’t be as quick on the attack but Alapag will make sure the ball finds the open shooters. Defense will decide the outcome with the team that is able to dictate the tempo showing the way to victory.