All Roads Lead to Manila: Gilas Entry #24 – Iran & China Team Previews

It is July 29, 2013 here in Manila, and there are only 3 nights left before the 2013 FIBA Asia Men’s Championship Tournament, the first ever held in these parts in four decades, kicks off at the ultramodern Mall of Asia Arena and the historic Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Now that the rosters of the participating teams have finally been revealed and confirmed, I can finally make the customary team-by-team previews of the tournament. This is, of course, something not done in much detail by other media outfits, so I am pretty excited. I plan to go through the groups starting with Group D and ending with Group A. Each post will focus on two teams, with the exception of the Group C preview, which will include all three squads since FIBA Asia wasn’t able to find a well-prepared replacement for the suspended Lebanese (I am still sad I won’t see Fadi El Khatib play).

For this fourth post, I will look at the two heavy favorites to advance to the 2014 FIBA World Cup. These two teams are stacked with arguably the best collection of big men in Asia, and these two teams have combined to win the last seven FIBA Asia/ABC Men’s crowns.

Yi Jianlian (R) tries to shoot over Iran's
Hamed Haddadi.
(image from english.people.com)

I will name a few key players for each team, some points of interest, and the general outlook for its performance. Where possible, I will also specify the team’s international nickname/moniker. Please note that a country’s basketball team usually uses the same moniker as its football team, with a few notable exceptions of course.

Game? Alright. Lezz do dis.

Folks, I present to you China and Iran.

CHINA (CHN)

Moniker: Long Zhi Dui (Team Dragon)

Qualification: Placed second in the 2013 EABA Tournament, beating Hong Kong, Mongolia, and Japan, but losing to South Korea in the Finals.

Last FIBA Asia Appearance: 2011 – 9 wins & 0 losses – Beat UAE, the Philippines, Bahrain, Syria, Jordan (twice), Japan, Lebanon, and South Korea.

Roster:

Name	Age	Height	Position
Wang Zhizhi	34	7’1	C
Yi Jianlian	26	7’1	F/C
Sun Yue	28	6’9	F/G
Zhu Fangyu	30	6’9	F
Chen Jianghua	24	6’2	G
Wang Zhelin	19	7’0	C
Zhou Peng	24	6’9	F
Zhang Bo	23	6’6	G/F
Wang Shipeng	30	6’6	G
Guo Ailun	20	6’3	G
Li Xaoxu	23	6’10	C/F
Liu Xiaoyu	24	6’4	G

Key Players:

1) The two Wangs – There are actually three (3) Wangs on this team, but we’ll talk about just the two in the frontline – 34-year old Wang Zhizhi and his almost-half-his-age-heir-apparent, Wang Zhelin. Zhizhi is obviously the more experienced one here, having played in the FIBA Asia or ABC tournaments since the early 90s, but Zhelin represents the promise of China’s continuing dominance in the future. The younger Wang had a great tournament in the 2013 EABA competition, but it’s clear he will need more experience and mentoring from Zhizhi to help him blossom into a bona fide superstar.

Does Zhizhi still have enough in the tank for one last FIBA Asia run?
(image from Sports.163.com)

2) Yi Jianlian – On Yi’s good day, I do not think anyone in Asia can stop him. His skill-set matched with his size is just something unparalleled. Maybe the only other big guy with such a feathery touch from mid to even long range is KAZ’s own Anton Ponomarev, but even then the Kazakh star doesn’t have Yi’s ability to create or his keen court awareness. Basically put, if Kevin Garnett were Asian, he would be Yi Jianlian. And just like KG for the T-Wolves of old, Team Dragon will only go as far as Yi can take it.

3) Guo Ailun – If the Philippine Islands have Kiefer Ravena, then the Middle Kingdom has Guo Ailun. Guo is as flashy and as gritty as Ravena. He sports similar handles, can shoot from distance, and is an aggressive slasher. This is his first time in the senior level of FIBA Asia, however, and that’s why he will probably play behind Chen Jianghua in the PG rotation even if there is no doubt Guo will be China’s chief floor general for years to come.

Point of Interest:

1) Repeat – After falling short in 2007 and 2009, Team China finally bagged the trophy again in 2011, narrowly defeating an inspired Jordanian quintet in the Finals. Many thought that would be the swan song for Wang Zhizhi and Liu Wei, but, as we all know now, Zhizhi, along with Zhu Fangyu and Guo Ailun, was recalled to the final roster after coach Giannakis Panagiotis dropped Liu, along with Li Muhao and Han Shuo, because of a nagging injury. If you ask me, however (and you should), this was merely China being cunning and playing possum.

2) Transition – By all intents and purposes, Wang Zhizhi, Zhu Fangyu, and Wang Shipeng are all probably playing their last FIBA Asia tournament. On the other hand, upcoming players like Wang Zhelin, Chen Jianghua, Guo, and Zhang Bo gave everyone a glimpse at the final rosters of each team.

Tournament Outlook:

I love China’s chances to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, but I do not think they are the best team on paper. Despite having perhaps Asia’s best forward-center hybrid, China will have a not-so-easy time with the likes of Iran, South Korea, the Philippines, and maybe even Taiwan. One big factor is the youth (read: inexperience) they have in the backcourt. What has essentially been Liu Wei’s spot since 2002 has now moved on to Chen Jianghua and Guo Ailun, and though both those guys are sick talents, they might be prone to pressure especially when the knockout stage begins.

IRAN (IRI)

Moniker: Team Melli

Qualification: Clinched the championship in the 2012 FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo, Japan, beating India, Qatar, Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines.

Last FIBA Asia Appearance: 2011 – 8 wins & 1 loss – Beat Qatar, Uzbekistan, Taiwan (twice), Malaysia, Lebanon (twice), and South Korea, but lost to Jordan in the quarterfinals.

Roster:

Name	Age	Height	Position
Hamed Haddadi	28	7’2	C
Oshin Sahakian	27	6’7	F
Samad Nikkhah Bahrami	30	6’6	F
Hamed Afagh	30	6’3	G
Mahdi Kamrani	31	6’2	G
Asghar Kardoust	27	6’11	C/F
Hamed Sohrabnejad	30	6’7	F
Mohammad Jamshidi	22	6’7	F
Javad Davari	30	6’1	G
Aren Davoudi	27	6’2	G
Rouzbeh Arghavan	25	7’1	C
Saman Veisi	31	6’7	F/G

Key Players:

1) Samad Nikkhah Bahrami – Bahrami was bothered by a bum knee last year, which kinda slowed him down a bit in the 2012 Jones Cup and 2012 FIBA Asia Cup, but he has healed up and should be in full strength when the tournament opens. He normed 22.6ppg, 5.1rpg, and 1.5spg for Mahram Tehran in the Iranian Superleague just this year, and he will surely bring that same kind of firepower to the FIBA Asia tourney.

Bahrami should be one of Iran's
undisputed leaders.
(sports.163.com)

2) Hamed Haddadi – Haddadi is undoubtedly going to be the most imposing inside presence in the whole tournament. The former Memphis Grizzly and Phoenix Sun knows how to use his heft well, has a decent midrange game, and just looks plain scary. Should be interesting to see how he performs in his early match-ups with CHN’s Wang Zhizhi and KOR’s Kim Joo-Sung, and I won’t be surprised if Haddadi leads the tournament in several stat categories like scoring, rebounding, blocks, and maybe even steals. He’s just on a tear lately and I doubt anybody can stop him in his current state.

3) Mohammad Jamshidi – Jamshidi is one of the cagers I am really excited to see, since he plays very similarly to Bahrami. I mean, imagine Bahrami sitting down and someone much younger possessing the same skill-set comes in. Despite coming off the bench, however, Jamshidi has the talent to make a significant contribution on each game, and I expect he should be Iran’s top wingman in a few years or so.

Points of Interest:

1) Redeem Team – Bitter memories from their shock quarterfinal loss to Jordan in the 2011 Wuhan joust probably still haunt Team Melli, but this team of coach Memi Becirovic is eager to prove that was just a fluke and that they are slowly getting ready to climb back up from fifth place to the top three. The absence of NBA draftee Arsalan Kazemi might even be a blessing, as coach Memi stresses team chemistry as a big factor in his past teams’ success.

Tournament Outlook:

This year is ripe for Team Iran to return to the podium, and, barring any untoward incidents, I see no apparent reason why they shouldn’t make the Finals, too. I mean, Iran is a beatable team, but there’s something different about how they played in the Jones Cup and how they have just been a dominant presence in the FIBA Asia scene for the past years.

#parasabayan