Montenegrin Point guard Ivan Koljevic (187-PG-84) had a great game in the last round for Kashan, receiving a Asia-basket.com Player of the Week award for round 14. The 32-year old player was the main contributor (23 points, seven rebounds and nine assists) to his team's victory, helping them to beat Army (#8, 4-9) 85-74. Kashan maintains the 7th position in Iranian Superleague. Kashan is a typical solid league team placed somewhere in the middle or a little bit lower in the standings. They need more victories to improve their 6-7 record. Koljevic turned to be Kashan's top player in his first season with the team. Ivan Koljevic has solid league stats. He is in league's top in points (2nd best: 23.0ppg), assists (2nd best: 5.0apg) and averages impressive 59.2% FGP.
The second best player in last round's games was 29-year old American J.P. Prince (203-G/F-87) of Azad. Prince had a very good evening with 24 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Bad luck as Azad lost that game 66-73 to the higher-ranked Petrochimi (#1, 12-1). It was definitely game of the week between two contenders to the title. Azad still maintains its place in the top 4 of the standings, even despite this loss. His team's 8-5 record is not bad at all. Prince is a newcomer at Azad, but is already one of team's top players. He belongs to the best scorers in the league with 18.7ppg (#6). His other stats are also decent: 4.2rpg and 3.7apg.
Third on the list of top players last round was American guard Daequan Cook (195-G-87) of Chemidor (#6). Cook got into 30-points club by scoring 31 points in the last round. He went also for five rebounds . He was a key player of Chemidor, leading his team to a 85-79 win against the higher-ranked Arak (#3, 8-5). Chemidor needs these victories very badly if they think about getting closer to top teams. Their record at this point is 7 victories and 6 lost games. Cook has a great season in Iran. After only 7 games, he made it on the list of the league's leaders in points with 25.3ppg (best scorer).
Other top performing players last week: 4. Gerald Robinson (185-PG-89) of Petrochimi - 22 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists 5. Povilas Cukinas (210-C/F-83) of Chemidor - 16 points and 13 rebounds 6. Masoud Soleimani (207-C) of Kashan - 23 points and 9 rebounds 7. Doron Perkins (189-G-83) of Naft Abadan - 11 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists 8. Hamzeh Aghajari (185-F-87) of Shiraz a.s Pipe - 26 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists 9. Sean Williams (208-F-86) of Tabriz - 16 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists 10. Zvonko Buljan (206-C-87) of Kashan - 24 points and 9 rebounds
The Player of the week is chosen based on efficiency calculation, but also including game result, importance of the game, if played recorded double-double/triple-double, etc. The efficiency formula is a combination of various formulas used by different basketball organizations/leagues. We got involved many basketball scouts and journalists to assure it's accuracy. The formula: 1.5*PTS + 3* (REB+AST+ST+BL-TO) - 2*BSAG - 4*PF + 3*PFRV + 4* (2FGPM+3FGPM) + 1.5*FTM - 3* (2FGPA-2FGPM) - 3* (3FGPA-3FGPM) - (FTA-FTM)
TEHRAN (FIBA Asia Cup 2017) - Iran may have to do battle at the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 without their most dominant player, Hamed Haddadi (218-C-85). This comes after the hulking 2.18m center revealed his plans to rest an injury he sustained last year in preparation for the Asia Qualifiers to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in November. "After the FIBA Asia Challenge last year, I had an injury and had to rest, but I still needed to play with Sichuan in China," he shared. "My injury got wo... [read more]
TEHRAN (FIBA Asia Cup 2017) - Iran may have to do battle at the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 without their most dominant player, Hamed Haddadi (218-C-85).
This comes after the hulking 2.18m center revealed his plans to rest an injury he sustained last year in preparation for the Asia Qualifiers to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in November.
"After the FIBA Asia Challenge last year, I had an injury and had to rest, but I still needed to play with Sichuan in China," he shared. "My injury got worse after, and now I need to rest this summer and be ready for the Asia Qualifiers." This is a big development for Iran, of course, as Haddadi is not only the team's best big man, he is also a valuable veteran presence on a squad now dominated by up-and-coming players. Haddadi would have been able to not only anchor Team Melli's interior play but also help guide some of the young guys on the national team.
"They are young and need to be in the camp and practice," he said. "If we want the national team to improve and be stronger, we should trust the young players and give them more time."
Among the young players expected to see action for Iran at the Asia Cup are hotshots Behnam Yakhchali, Sajjad Mashayekhi and Vahid Dalirzahan - all of whom played for Iran at the WABA Championship 2017. With these players making an impact for Iran, Haddadi is confident they will be a force to reckon with at the Asia Cup.
"Our national team is doing the best because we have good preparation with the young players for the FIBA Asia Cup," he explained. "I see the motivation in players' faces, and I know everybody will do the best for the national team."
One stumbling block for Iran will be the inclusion of Australia and New Zealand in the Asia Cup this year. Both the Boomers and Tall Blacks are elite national sides, and having them may dampen the odds of Iran returning to the top of the podium. Haddadi, however, welcomes this development. He knows that for the level of play in Asia to further improve, teams will need to play much better competition. "I believe New Zealand and Australia will improve Asian basketball," he said. "If we want to play at the world quality, then we should play with more great teams, and these teams can help us."
Haddadi has been included in Iran's 24-man pool, but should he, indeed, miss the Asia Cup, new coach Erman Kunter will still have some rising stars who can carry the scoring, rebounding and shot-blocking cudgels. These include Rouzbeh Arghavan, Arsalan Kazemi and perhaps even Mohammad Torabi. Still, there is something to be said about having Asia's most dominant center of the past decade playing for your team, and Team Melli will most certainly still prefer having Haddadi on board for the Asia Cup.
TEHRAN (FIBA Asia Cup 2017) - Behnam Yakhchali (196-SG-95) is expected to be one of the big stars for Iran in the coming FIBA Asia Cup 2017, and that does not seem to faze the young man one bit. At just 21 years of age, the 1.95m wingman is already projected to be Iran's ace for the foreseeable future, and though that may place undue pressure on others, Yakhchali seems to have embraced it. He debuted for Team Melli's senior team as a wide-eyed 19-year-old back in 2014, already impressing... [read more]
TEHRAN (FIBA Asia Cup 2017) - Behnam Yakhchali (196-SG-95) is expected to be one of the big stars for Iran in the coming FIBA Asia Cup 2017, and that does not seem to faze the young man one bit.
At just 21 years of age, the 1.95m wingman is already projected to be Iran's ace for the foreseeable future, and though that may place undue pressure on others, Yakhchali seems to have embraced it. He debuted for Team Melli's senior team as a wide-eyed 19-year-old back in 2014, already impressing friend and foe with his instincts and, more importantly, his explosive outside shooting. He was part of the team in their 2015 campaign in Changsha-Hunan, where the Iranians were dethroned and placed 3rd overall. In that tournament, Yakhchali still played second fiddle to household name Samad Nikkhah Bahrami, but with the veteran forward not in the pool this year, the onus is on Yakhchali to carry a bigger responsibility and a heavier scoring load.
By all intents and purposes, though, the Shahrekord native looks ready. He put up 16.6 points per game at the WABA Championship 2017 earlier this year, scoring in double-figures in every game as Iran placed 2nd behind bitter rivals Lebanon. Can he continue to do that in Beirut for the FIBA Asia Cup in August?
Only time will tell, but he sure sounded confident in a recent interview with FIBA.com, where he talked about their level of preparation and a couple of their other key players. How are Iran's preparations so far for the FIBA Asia Cup? We started our practice immediately after our season, then we played preparation games versus China. We are looking for some other games to be ready for the FIBA Asia Cup. What can you say about having Jordan, Syria and India in your group? All those teams are really tough, but we are confident we will go there so focused and ready. Of course, we will give our best against every opponent.
What can you say about having French-Iranian Navid Niktash in the Iran national pool? It was his first time playing in Iran. He is a really good player, and he can help us during our games in the FIBA Asia Cup.
Which players do you think will step up for Iran, especially with veterans like Samad Nikkhah Bahrami and Mahdi Kamrani no longer around? Bahrami and Kamrani were really good players, but we have other good players with us this time also. Right now, everyone is trying to do his best for the national team.
Do you think your legendary center, Hamed Haddadi, will still be dominant? I think Haddadi is so good and will still be dominant in the next 4-5 years. He is the perfect leader for our team as we play for the gold medal in FIBA Asia.
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