Bauermann cites Gilas guards

CHANGSHA – After taking it on the chin from the Philippines in losing an 87-73 decision, Iran national basketball team coach Dirk Bauermann shrugged off the setback at the 28th FIBA Asia Championships here the other day and said the perspective is to learn from it because the tournament is far from over.

Bauermann, 57, said the defeat had nothing to do with pressure. “I thought we lacked energy and competitiveness in the second half,” he said. “(Terrence) Romeo and (Jayson) Castro were outstanding. Romeo hit two big threes in the third period. We’ll do a lot of viewing to see where we made mistakes. It’s a tournament and one loss in the second round is just that, one loss. This was good for Iran. We’ll shake it off.”

Bauermann credited the Philippines for a well-played game and admitted it was difficult defending Andray Blatche whom he described as a stretch five. Blatche finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and four steals in 26:11 minutes while his counterpart Hamed Haddadi had 10 points before fouling out in the last quarter.

Despite the loss, Iran remained upbeat. Assistant coach Mehran Shahintab said the team has become more cohesive with Bauermann instilling a system of trust in each other.

“Coach Dirk has installed the European style with our team,” said Shahintab. “Everybody gets to play minutes. Nobody is a superstar. We’re a team of role players. It’s an effective system.”

Bauermann was signed to coach Iran for the FIBA Asia tournament. According to eurobasket.com, his contract will be extended if Iran makes it all the way to the 2016 Rio Olympics. It’s his first coaching job on the Asian stage and Bauermann said he’s enjoying the moment.

“No big adjustments,” said Bauermann who has coached the German and the Polish national teams. “The European style, which obviously, I’m familiar with, is what most of the West Asian countries use. I notice the East Asian countries play the speed game more, a lot of one-on-one action like the American style. So I’m well adjusted with the Iranian team.”

Bauermann said defense is the key to winning the FIBA Asia crown. “We’re still a long way off playing for the championship,” he said. “There are a lot of things we’re working on, particularly our transition defense and our speed in attacking the zone. Defense has always been my priority and my philosophy was influenced by Ron Adams, whose coaching staff I was with as an assistant at Fresno State.”

Bauermann, who played for the German club BBC Krefeld from 1975 to 1981, was in Adams’ collegiate staff from 1986 to 1988. A Fresno State star during that period was Jervis Cole who played for Barangay Ginebra in the PBA. Cole was Ginebra’s import when the PBA’s most popular squad came back from a 1-3 deficit to capture the 1991 First Conference title at Shell’s expense with Rudy Distrito’s winning basket in Game 7 of the Finals.

Bauermann pointed out that Adams is now the Golden State Warriors assistant coach for defense. Adams, 67, was formerly an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics. He joined head coach Steve Kerr’s staff last season and was with the Warriors when they won the NBA championship.

Bauermann said Iranian forward Samad Nikkhah Bahrami is coming off an injury and that’s why he’s been given a lot of minutes in the preliminaries to work his way back into game shape. Bahrami skipped the recent Jones Cup to recover from injury.

Bauermann mentioned that if the Iranian players have bought into his system, it’s probably because they know what he’s capable of doing. “I’ve coached in Belgium, Greece, Lithuania, Russia, Poland and of course, Germany,” he said. “I’m happy that everyone is playing within our system.”

Bauermann’s credentials are power-packed. He coached Germany in three FIBA World Cups, the 2008 Olympics and three EuroBaskets. A top result was Germany’s silver medal finish at the 2005 EuroBasket. Bauermann took Germany, starring forward Dirk Nowitzki, to the 2008 Olympics after claiming one of three tickets via a qualifying tournament with Greece and Croatia. Germany wound up 10th of 12 at the Beijing Games. He also coached Nowitzki at the 2006 FIBA World Cup where Germany finished 8th of 24. Bauermann is a four-time winner of the German Cup and a nine-time winner of the Bundesliga championship as a coach. He won seven straight Bundesliga titles.

Shahintab said at this stage of the FIBA Asia tournament, the team isn’t looking beyond the knockout quarterfinals today. “We’re not looking ahead of our next game,” he said. “We respect every team in this tournament and we try to play with the same level of intensity, no matter whom we play.”

Asked if there is a deliberate attempt to turn point guard Mehdi Kamrani into an offensive option, Shahintab said it depends on the defense. In the preliminaries, Kamrani looked more to score than pass. Shahintab hinted that as the tournament progresses, Kamrani’s role may change.

Iran opened the tournament with an 86-48 trouncing of Japan as Oshin Sahakian scored 15 points. Iran then clobbered India, 88-66 and Malaysia, 122-42, to finish the first round unscathed.

Iran has won three of the last four FIBA Asia crowns. The miss came in the 2011 edition where Iran was upset by Jordan, 88-84, in the knockout quarterfinals. “We remember what happened in 2011 and we won’t let that happen again,” said Shahintab.

While Iran continues to rely on its veterans, there is a new core of young blood that is expected to lead the team into the future. Hamed Haddadi, Kamrani, Bahrami, Sahakian, Asghar Kardoust and Hamed Afagh provide the experience while Mohammed Jamshidi, Sajjad Mashayekhi, Saberi Hassanzadeh and Benham Yakchali form the nucleus of the next generation.