2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers - ASIA-PACIFIC

[mohsena2631]

Iran's roster for the last window

PG: Sajjad Mashayekhi, Aren Davoudi, Hamed Hosseinzadeh
SG: Behnam Yakhchali, Navid Niktash
SF: Mohammad Jamshidi, Mike Rostampour
PF: Mohammad Hassanzadeh, Arman Zangeneh
C: Meisam Mirzaei, Rouzbeh Arghavan, Keivan Riaei

more or less the same squad as the previous window. the only important addition is Mashayekhi who was injured back then.
Iran will be missing Kazemi, Nikkhah and Haddadi. coach didn't even invite Kazemi for "technical reasons" (aka personal problem with the player) Haddadi didn't go to the camp in first place, few days later he changed his mind saying he wants to play only because of the fans. but coach said no thanks I only accept players who joined the camp from the first day !! Nikkhah went to the camp and trained couple of days with them but later left them for unknown reasons (apparently claiming he is not in good shape to play)

for making sure about the qualification, Iran has to win one of those two games (vs Japan or Australia) or at least not losing to Japan by more than 8 points. of course even if that doesn't happen there is still a good chance for Iran to qualify but that will be out of our hands. only one unlikely scenario will eliminate Iran but if I was the coach I would take that seriously.

[Dtown]

Point differential matters! If Iran had lost by less than 8 they would have qualified today, but two free throws and a missed layup mean they'll face Australia on Sunday having not qualified yet. Though they're still very likely to even if they lose.

Japan's been incredible since their awful start. They now hold the tiebreaker over Iran and will qualify with a win over Qatar, a loss by the Philippines, or a loss by Iran.

[mohsena2631]

The game itself was humiliating, except the last 4 minutes when they finally did something and cut Japan's lead from 19 to 6. but I still can't believe how STUPID they were. almost 10 persons on the bench and nobody knew Iran only had to not lose the game by 7 or more. we were down by 6 and with 10 seconds to go they only had to let it go and shake hands with the Japanese. instead they went for a foul and after FTs Hosseinzadeh missed the last layup. if they knew how crucial is this they wouldn't let Hosseinzadeh taking the last shot.

only because of this, this Iran deserves to not qualify, for this and for having the worst coach ever.almost everybody hates him in the team. this is still unlikely for Iran to not qualify but what if Japan decide to not take the last game seriously ! and Jordan wins both games. none of them are completely impossible. and I'm almost sure this shitty team can't beat even Australia Z team.

[mohsena2631]

I'm watching the press conference , I'm more surprised that our coach actually knew 6pts was enough. he claims the players made a "mistake" they were supposed to do nothing ! unbelievable

[ja.he]

I'm watching the press conference , I'm more surprised that our coach actually knew 6pts was enough. he claims the players made a "mistake" they were supposed to do nothing ! unbelievable

But is your coach act honourable move? Your coach is such a coward because he didn’t try. They cannot prove for once that there is life for Iran basketball after Haddadi and Bahraini. That they can still be a force in Asia even without the two plus karma I.

[Dtown]

Japan demolishes Qatar 96-48, finishing their incredible 8 game winning streak, qualifying for the World Cup and probably cementing their hosting for the Olympics.

Because of their win Iran automatically qualifies as well.

Lebanon loses to Korea, meaning Jordan qualifies.

Philippines wins, qualifying and eliminates Lebanon.

[Mindozas]

Feel a bit sad for Lebanon, a real basketball nation. They had it all in their hands, needed one win, but failed. Didn't see in their team a real go-to guy like Jordan has with Tucker, Philippines has with Blatche (41+13 and 49eff today - amazing)

[mojo13]

Feel a bit sad for Lebanon, a real basketball nation. They had it all in their hands, needed one win, but failed. Didn't see in their team a real go-to guy like Jordan has with Tucker, Philippines has with Blatche (41+13 and 49eff today - amazing)

Sounds like there is an easy solution. Just come up with some more money to buy a better American.

[Mindozas]

Sounds like there is an easy solution. Just come up with some more money to buy a better American.

Yeah, if FIBA has flaws in their system with that naturalization crap, and you try to use it, at least you should try to use it as much efficient as you can. Lebanon obviously didnt

[ja.he]

Sounds like there is an easy solution. Just come up with some more money to buy a better American.

australia does, america does, your country does, spain, almost all european teams does save lithuania and serbia (and they don't even need to), why other countries from continents can't?

[mojo13]

australia does, america does, your country does, spain, almost all european teams does save lithuania and serbia (and they don't even need to), why other countries from continents can't?

australia does, america does, your country does, spain, almost all european teams does save lithuania and serbia (and they don't even need to), why other countries from continents can't?

I was just encouraging them to abuse the system to the fullest. Buying an ex-NBA player to drop 40 and clinche a WC berthe is a boss move. Could have easily worked for Lebanon.

I am curious who you think the US has naturalized or Canada for that matter ( that is news to me)? Same with Australia - did they naturalize someone? Surely they didn’t buy them?


I’m sorry but the Philippines will always get mocked for Blatche. He is a straight mercenary, a highly paid purchase. A few other countries have done that, but he is the worst example. Most other countries naturalize guys that at least have some tie to the country, usually living in-country and playing in the domestic league for a few years. That seems the more natural naturalization. It’s fully in the rules and the Philippines has done nothing wrong. It is just funny to see and the most obvious example of why some people don’t like the rule or think FIBA should tighten it up.

I am curious though of who you think the USA, Canada or Australia has naturalized.

[ja.he]

I was just encouraging them to abuse the system to the fullest. Buying an ex-NBA player to drop 40 and clinche a WC berthe is a boss move. Could have easily worked for Lebanon.

I am curious who you think the US has naturalized or Canada for that matter ( that is news to me)? Same with Australia - did they naturalize someone? Surely they didn’t buy them?


I’m sorry but the Philippines will always get mocked for Blatche. He is a straight mercenary, a highly paid purchase. A few other countries have done that, but he is the worst example. Most other countries naturalize guys that at least have some tie to the country, usually living in-country and playing in the domestic league for a few years. That seems the more natural naturalization. It’s fully in the rules and the Philippines has done nothing wrong. It is just funny to see and the most obvious example of why some people don’t like the rule or think FIBA should tighten it up.

I am curious though of who you think the USA, Canada or Australia has naturalized.

australia has kevin lisch as its naturalized player. usa used to have hakeem (nigerian by birth) and patrick ewing (jamaican by birth) as naturalized players. canada has samuel dalembert (haitian by birth) while i don't agree on the enlistment of blatche in 2014, i think it should be enough that was 5 years ago. it is what it is right now. if someone will complain, they should done it in 2014 but no one did because they also do it.

but mind you, i always prefer an unheralded naturalized player that played on my league (pba) like marcus douthit. many of our imports also wants to be a naturalized filipino citizen but our congress are not just giving our citizenship that easy (blatche's case was an exemption). have you ever heard if we naturalized another player since blatche? none.

[reamily]

At least someone is being honest here aside from relying on a vintage performance of Blatche, we relied also from a korea win. But neverthless we want our team in the biggest stage so we take even how ugly it is..

[reamily]

Sounds like there is an easy solution. Just come up with some more money to buy a better American.

Exactly.. they need to hore a nba level wingman who can play 3 4 or even small ball 5..

[reamily]

Didn't expect this win because of such negative mentality inside the team. but they really fought hard for this win despite all weaknesses. that was another poor shooting day but Jamshidi made it when it matters in 4th quarter. this is the "team melli" we knew. fighting hard and playing with passion until the last minute

listening to the coach during the timeout now I can understand why some players don't want to play for him. this is probably OK in other countries but in Iran . I don't think so. you have to respect your players. you can't yell at your most experienced player, your captain , "why you are missing free throws, why you are missing open shots" ! it's not like he wasn't trying. I'm glad Aren didn't react to that.

also Hamed Hosseinzadeh played a key role in 4th quarter defensively . specially in dying last minutes. I always thought he deserved more playing time in the NT (of course behind Mashayekhi)

even though we are not 100% qualified yet but I think we are almost there. now we have time to solve the problems before the next window. players refusing to play for the NT is something we never had before.

So the foreign coaches of iran the past years never shouts at the players? Its surprising that the local guy is the one doing it..