Iran National Team 2014

[ChineseArk]

Thank you for your notes and assessment. Foroutannik is pretty good, he should have a bright future ahead of him.

Well, judged by his performances in the 9 games, I think he still need to improve a lot. It is obvious that he is in the lack of experiences,which could be implied by his stupid foul committment, unsophisticated defence. It seems that the coach also wasn't that confident of him and used him as the substution of Hassanzadeh. But even though, in the limited playing time, he played quite well in the games against USA and Korea(with 13pts+10rebs). I think he should consequently upgrade his shooting skill ,lay-up skill and defensive rebound skill. Anyway he is a very good 3-point shooter and a tough big guy in the piant.
As to other players, I think Torabi and Ojaghi are also promising. Especially Ojaghi, I think he is a much better cadidate for the future position 3 than Sadgehi. As to Sadgehi,his performances was really unsatisfactory..

[mohsena2631]

Becirovic announced his final squad for the FIBA World Cup.

PG: Mehdi Kamrani, Sajjad Mashayekhi
SG: Hamed Afagh, Behnam Yakhchali
SF: Samad Nikkhah-Bahrami, Mohammad Jamshidi
PF: Oshin Sahakian, Arsalan Kazemi, Arman Zangeneh
C: Hamed Haddadi, Asghar Kardoust, Rouzbeh Arghavan

and Memi dropped Nassajpour ! big big surprise ! I'm not really sure if we really need 6 players PF/C position. Obviously Memi wants a tall lineup. but it's still hard to believe, he gave Nasajpour many playing time during the friendlies. unlike Zangeneh ! I highly doubt we need Zangeneh in Spain.
it seems Nassajpour will be with them in Spain, being in Asian Games final squad is apparently still possible for him.

[Buran]

Becirovic announced his final squad for the FIBA World Cup.

PG: Mehdi Kamrani, Sajjad Mashayekhi
SG: Hamed Afagh, Behnam Yakhchali
SF: Samad Nikkhah-Bahrami, Mohammad Jamshidi
PF: Oshin Sahakian, Arsalan Kazemi, Arman Zangeneh
C: Hamed Haddadi, Asghar Kardoust, Rouzbeh Arghavan

and Memi dropped Nassajpour ! big big surprise ! I'm not really sure if we really need 6 players PF/C position. Obviously Memi wants a tall lineup. but it's still hard to believe, he gave Nasajpour many playing time during the friendlies. unlike Zangeneh ! I highly doubt we need Zangeneh in Spain.
it seems Nassajpour will be with them in Spain, being in Asian Games final squad is apparently still possible for him.

It's going to be a bit tough with just two PGs there. Nassajpour could have helped the team, he was a good ball handler and was comfortable in the court, he sometimes made some questionable decisions, which led to turnovers, but I would have kept him instead of Zanganeh if I were the coach. If a PG fouls out or gets injured we will be in trouble with just one guard, but at position 4 we have multiple players in 4&5 that can fill out Zanganeh's position if he was dropped from the team.
I haven't seen Zanganeh play that much, just a bit in Fiba Asia Cup and I thought that he needs to develop a bit more to reach the same level of other team melli players. He is young and he will certainly improve more in the coming years, but he is not 100% there yet.

[reamily]

I think the decision to drop Nassajpour in the WC lineup isnt surprising due to the the fact that almost all teams in Group A have a surplus of big men. And the guy is needed in Asiad imo as I would be surprised if he will be dropped in the Asiad lineup due to additional dimension he will bring to your team.(Assuming that we can still contend for the gold despite he OCA thing.)

[Buran]

Well, judged by his performances in the 9 games, I think he still need to improve a lot. It is obvious that he is in the lack of experiences,which could be implied by his stupid foul committment, unsophisticated defence. It seems that the coach also wasn't that confident of him and used him as the substution of Hassanzadeh. But even though, in the limited playing time, he played quite well in the games against USA and Korea(with 13pts+10rebs). I think he should consequently upgrade his shooting skill ,lay-up skill and defensive rebound skill. Anyway he is a very good 3-point shooter and a tough big guy in the piant.
As to other players, I think Torabi and Ojaghi are also promising. Especially Ojaghi, I think he is a much better cadidate for the future position 3 than Sadgehi. As to Sadgehi,his performances was really unsatisfactory..

Thanks again for your notes and assessment of the players in that tournament. I didn't see any of the Jones cup games this time.

[Buran]

According to this article from ISNA. FIBA had asked IRIBF to pay $11,000 (I don't know what for exactly?) so that they can issue a clearance for Nassajpour to play, and again according to this article, while Nassajpour was the coaching staff's choice for that last open spot, Reza Mashhoun, the manager, has made the decision to not pay that fee and hence Zanganeh was announced as the last player on the roster. THe whole story sounds a bit fishy to me, I don't know why FIBA would ask for such a large sum of money for resolving a bureaucratic problem.

Now that Mashayekhi seems to be injured, absence of Nassajpour in that team is more visible.

[keepcool]

Sorry for my ignorance. May I know if whose that new bald buy, in their tuneup against lithuania?

[Buran]

Sorry for my ignorance. May I know if whose that new bald buy, in their tuneup against lithuania?

You're are probably referring to Erfan Nassajpour, the PG, who was left out of the final roster for World Cup.

[keepcool]

You're are probably referring to Erfan Nassajpour, the PG, who was left out of the final roster for World Cup.

Thanks. wow, the way he play i thought he'll make it to the final roster. Is he a collegiate player in Iran or did he play ball in the US?

[Buran]

Thanks. wow, the way he play i thought he'll make it to the final roster. Is he a collegiate player in Iran or did he play ball in the US?

He played college basketball in Canada and plays in Iran's super league.
It's unfortunate that he was dropped from the team in the last minute. He would have certainly had more contribution and would had seen more playing time than the PF that was selected instead of him.

[Buran]

Iran vs Spain game notes:
That was a good game overall. Although we lost by 30, but I think it was still a respectable loss and they managed to keep the offense to some degree afloat. The Bleacher Report columnist has wrote mostly positive notes on Iran's game despite the loss.
Iran's zone defense looked ineffective, mostly because the Gazol's are hard to contain and they were in for most of the game. It's extremely hard defending a team like Spain, with such a strong fire power.
Here are my notes on each player:
Mehdi Kamrani(A+/20): Once again, he showed why he is the best PG in Asia, he played with a lot of passion and intensity. Couldn't connect with Haddadi on drive ins as much as usual, mostly because of the Gasol brothers inside, but excelled at other aspects of the game. He could have easily played in Europe for many years earlier in his career.
Hamed Haddadi: played well with 15 rbs and 16pts. The Gasol brothers would have made our paint a picnic scene with out him and easily scored more than 100 pts without him.
Samad Nikkhah: played well too, had a few nice assists and managed to create opportunities for himself on a few drives to the basket, with his excellent command on the ball.Did okay at PG when Kamrani was out. However, as the team Capitan he tends to get a bit annoyed and irritated with teammates, especially in games against stronger teams, which at times leads to minor arguments that is probably counterproductive.
Hamed Afagh: Despite playing 21 mins he was not very visible on the court, especially on offense. He usually has a hard time freeing-up himself and creating shooting opportunities when he is guarded and marked well.
Mohammad Jamshidi: I thought he played well,had some nice buckets, did okay on defense for most part, however he didn't even have a single rebound in 25 min. Overall he is not scarred of the big scene anymore and plays with confidence. At some point in the second half he got into a small argument with Bahrami, which he should avoid in the future and just focus on his game,for the sake of the team.
Behnam Yakhchali: We shouldn't expect too much from him, but he played well too and is bound to become a great player.
Oshin Sahakian: it's hard when you are assigned to guard Pau Gasol and you are 15cm shorter! being more offensive minded and aggressive on attack is one of the factors that distinguishes him from Arsalan Kazemi, he hustled a lot but couldn't really do much against the imposing Spanish towers.
Arsalan Kazemi: didn't play much, only 5mins surprisingly! he would have probably helped in decreasing the margin of loss had he been in more, as he is a great defender and rebounder and IMO could have done a better job than the other players in that category.
Rouzbeh Arghavan: didn't play well, he hasn't improved much from two years ago, Had no rebound in 10 min and that's just not acceptable for a 2:14cm player. hopefully he can bring his "A game" against the other teams. He will be going in frequently and hopefully he can stay alert and focused while in.
Asghar Kardoust: didn't play much, and didn't produce anything special while in.
Arman Zanganeh: didn't do much in his 6 mins.

[FEIFEI]

Iran vs Spain game notes:
That was a good game overall. Although we lost by 30, but I think it was still a respectable loss and they managed to keep the offense to some degree afloat. The Bleacher Report columnist has wrote mostly positive notes on Iran's game despite the loss.
Iran's zone defense looked ineffective, mostly because the Gazol's are hard to contain and they were in for most of the game. It's extremely hard defending a team like Spain, with such a strong fire power.
Here are my notes on each player:
Mehdi Kamrani(A+/20): Once again, he showed why he is the best PG in Asia, he played with a lot of passion and intensity. Couldn't connect with Haddadi on drive ins as much as usual, mostly because of the Gasol brothers inside, but excelled at other aspects of the game. He could have easily played in Europe for many years earlier in his career.
Hamed Haddadi: played well with 15 rbs and 16pts. The Gasol brothers would have made our paint a picnic scene with out him and easily scored more than 100 pts without him.
Samad Nikkhah: played well too, had a few nice assists and managed to create opportunities for himself on a few drives to the basket, with his excellent command on the ball.Did okay at PG when Kamrani was out. However, as the team Capitan he tends to get a bit annoyed and irritated with teammates, especially in games against stronger teams, which at times leads to minor arguments that is probably counterproductive.
Hamed Afagh: Despite playing 21 mins he was not very visible on the court, especially on offense. He usually has a hard time freeing-up himself and creating shooting opportunities when he is guarded and marked well.
Mohammad Jamshidi: I thought he played well,had some nice buckets, did okay on defense for most part, however he didn't even have a single rebound in 25 min. Overall he is not scarred of the big scene anymore and plays with confidence. At some point in the second half he got into a small argument with Bahrami, which he should avoid in the future and just focus on his game,for the sake of the team.
Behnam Yakhchali: We shouldn't expect too much from him, but he played well too and is bound to become a great player.
Oshin Sahakian: it's hard when you are assigned to guard Pau Gasol and you are 15cm shorter! being more offensive minded and aggressive on attack is one of the factors that distinguishes him from Arsalan Kazemi, he hustled a lot but couldn't really do much against the imposing Spanish towers.
Arsalan Kazemi: didn't play much, only 5mins surprisingly! he would have probably helped in decreasing the margin of loss had he been in more, as he is a great defender and rebounder and IMO could have done a better job than the other players in that category.
Rouzbeh Arghavan: didn't play well, he hasn't improved much from two years ago, Had no rebound in 10 min and that's just not acceptable for a 2:14cm player. hopefully he can bring his "A game" against the other teams. He will be going in frequently and hopefully he can stay alert and focused while in.
Asghar Kardoust: didn't play much, and didn't produce anything special while in.
Arman Zanganeh: didn't do much in his 6 mins.

Jiangsu Tongxi (NBL) inked 32-year old Iranian international point guard Mahdi Kamrani (186-78kg-82). He moved there from Petrochimi in Iranian Superleague where he started the season. In 33 games he recorded 14.8ppg, 3.8rpg, 4.6apg and 2.9spg this season. He helped them to win the league title. A very good season in his career as he was voted to Asia-Basket.com All-Iranian Superleague 1st Team and Honorable Mention. Kamrani also played at Foolad Mahan in Iranian league that season. In 6 Asian Club Championships games he averaged impressive 20.2ppg, 3.0rpg, 3.8apg and 2.2spg. The last season he played at Mahram (Superleague) in Iran. In 8 games he averaged remarkable 16.8ppg, 3.0rpg, 3.4apg and 1.5spg. Kamrani also played 5 games in Asian Club Championships where he averaged 14.4ppg, 1.8rpg, 4.8apg (top 2) and 2.2spg. He represented Iran at the WABA Club Championships three years ago. Kamrani's team won Gold.
He has played also professionally for other Iranian teams like Paykan and Saba.
Kamrani's game is described as: An experienced PG, with court vision, passing skills and good defensive attitude. Can score if left open, has great leadership, he could also be effective at uppper level. are ready to play in Europe.

[mohsena2631]

Iran's final squad for the Asian Games

PG: Kamrani, Mashayekhi, Aslani
SG: Afagh, Yakhchali
SF: Nikkhah, Jamshidi
PF: Sahakian, Zangeneh
C: Haddadi, Kardoust, Arghavan

so they only replaced Kazemi with a PG Aslani (the only available option). I think dropping Arsalan was expected. he didn't even come back to Iran with the rest of the team, directly went to USA ! looks like Becirovic is upset with him because he thinks "Kazemi was thinking more about his next season team more than the NT" they believe Arsalan's mind wasn't with the team ! Very sad news, I don't know what to say.

and it seems something happened between Nasajpour and the coaching staff. I think they will never call him up ! so we are back to our "home grown" squad. (Kazemi raised in Iran but still lived few years in USA). I think this team is probably good enough to win the Asian Games with no major problem but there are 2 or 3 very dangerous teams in Incheon. they have to be careful.

[FrankieJB]

I'm not qualified to say anything about Kazemi, but I read an article* on FIBA's site where he was interviewed and I found it very weird, probably not very healthy, to read that:

"Here (in Granada), you play against, not good players, but also great players, and a lot of them are millionaires like some in the game that we watched last night between Spain and Brazil," he said.

I find it very odd to refer to money in such a context. It's probably more awkward than unhealthy but it could reflect a lack of commitment as well...

See: http://www.fiba.com/basketballworldc...k-from-the-NBA

[luzvimindo]

Iran's final squad for the Asian Games

PG: Kamrani, Mashayekhi, Aslani
SG: Afagh, Yakhchali
SF: Nikkhah, Jamshidi
PF: Sahakian, Zangeneh
C: Haddadi, Kardoust, Arghavan

so they only replaced Kazemi with a PG Aslani (the only available option). I think dropping Arsalan was expected. he didn't even come back to Iran with the rest of the team, directly went to USA ! looks like Becirovic is upset with him because he thinks "Kazemi was thinking more about his next season team more than the NT" they believe Arsalan's mind wasn't with the team ! Very sad news, I don't know what to say.

and it seems something happened between Nasajpour and the coaching staff. I think they will never call him up ! so we are back to our "home grown" squad. (Kazemi raised in Iran but still lived few years in USA). I think this team is probably good enough to win the Asian Games with no major problem but there are 2 or 3 very dangerous teams in Incheon. they have to be careful.

Hi mohsena.. Did they replace kazemi after the world cup or was kazemi not included in the line up submitted by iran before the world cup?