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CHN - Iran, Gilas set to compete at Asia Cup PhilBoxing.com Sat, 12 Jul 2014 WUHAN (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - The players of Iran and the Philippines should have an extra bounce in their step when they run onto the court at the FIBA Asia Cup on Friday in Wuhan, China. In less than two months, each will be a part of one of the biggest hoops events ever staged, the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain. The Asian teams will be underdogs at the World Cup, with Iran competing against Spain,France, Serbia, Brazil and Egypt in Group A and the Philippines meeting Argentina, Greece,Croatia, Puerto Rico and Senegal and in Group B. But at the FIBA Asia Cup, expectations will be higher. Save for a blip at the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, when they suffered a Quarter-Final upset to Jordan, Iran have been the continent's most dominant team in recent times. In 2007, they won their first Asian title and qualified for the 2008 Olympics. Following another Asian crown in 2009, Iran travelled to the FIBA World Championship in 2010and performed well against the USA, Slovenia, Croatia, Brazil and Tunisia in Istanbul. Their upset loss to Jordan in 2011 deprived Iran of a spot in the 2012 Olympics, but normal service resumed last year when Memi Becirovic, the man who coached Slovenia in 2010, guided Iran to their third FIBA Asia Championship crown in the last four attempts. There is one significant change to the Iran lineup from last year's team. Arsalan Kazemi is back in the squad. A player in the 2010 and ?11 sides, Kazemi was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers last summer and spent time with them attempting to gain a place in the regular season team. Becirovic felt it best to give Kazemi the 2013 summer off from national team duty but was eager to bring the 2.01m power forward back this year. So Kazemi will be with Iran, even though all this week he has taken a break from national team training to play with the Philadelphia 76ers summer league team in Orlando. Kazemi didn?t make the Sixers? roster in the 2013-14 season but instead played for Petrochimi in Iran. "The Sixers are my team," Kazemi said. "I wanted to see everyone, all the coaches. "I still want to join this team and come here and play. I wanted to come here and show them what I added to my game this year." Kazemi averaged 13.1 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.2 steals to help fire Petrochimi to the title. Giant center Hamed Hadadi, a former NBA player himself with Memphis and Phoenix who led Iran to last year?s Asian Championship title, is another headline-making name on the Iran roster at the Asia Cup. The 2.18m pivot averaged 18.8ppg and 10rpg on his way to MVP honors last summer in Manila. Iran will square off against hosts China, India, Idonesia and Japan in Group A of the Asia Cup. The Philippines (Gilas), meanwhile, will compete in Group B. One of their opponents will be a Jordan side led by former Iran and Philippines coach, Rajko Toroman. They will also go up against Singapore and Chinese Taipei, the country that upset China in the Quarter-Finals of last year?s FIBA Asian Championship. Gilas received a royal send-off to Wuhan, appearing in front of the media at a restaurant in Quezon City on Tuesday night. "We just want to be able to get back to what I call the grind of international game," Philippines coach Chot Reyes said of the Asia Cup. "That is needed for the mental and emotional standpoint of the players." Much of the hoopla surrounding their side in the build-up to the World Cup has been the naturalization of American center Andray Blatche, a player with the Brooklyn Nets. Blatche?s citizenship paperwork was not approved in time for him to play at the Asian Cup so the naturalized center from the United States who has been with the team in recent summers, Marcus Douthit, will be with the team in Wuhan. Douthit, nine PBA (Philippines Basketball Association) players and two Gilas cadet players make up the country?s Asia Cup squad. "We?re not expecting much because by the time we play in China, we?ve only had nine practices and you know that we don?t have the full team," Reyes said. "I like our lineup but we don?t have the chance to be at our best because of the limited practices that we had. "We have young guys (Garvo Lanete and Kevin Alas) and I?m intrigued and want to see Jay Washington, Paul Lee and Beau Belga in actual (international) competition." Gilas will effectively be in unchartered territory when they arrive in Spain next month for the World Cup. Their last appearance at a FIBA World Championship was in 1978 as the host nation.  |
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