Superleague Round 21 (Regular Season): Leader Gorgan gets another victory

There will be only one (last) round of the Regular Season in Superleague. Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

Leader Gorgan delivered the nineteenth win on Thursday night. This time they beat 8th ranked Averta (8-13) 87-75. Gorgan outrebounded Averta 42-28 including 31 on the defensive glass. The best player for the winners was American point guard Will Cherry (185-1991, college: Montana) who scored 29 points and 4 assists. International point guard Sina Vahedi (185-2001) chipped in 21 points and 5 rebounds. Gorgan's coach Mostafa Hashemi used an eleven-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. At the other side the best for losing team was the former international Majid Rahimian who recorded 23 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Gorgan have a solid series of four victories in a row. Defending champion maintains first place with 19-2 record. Averta lost sixth consecutive game. Newly promoted team keeps the eighth position with 13 games lost. Gorgan are looking forward to face Tabiat (#3) in the next round, which may be the game of the day. Averta will play against Kerman (#5) and is hoping to prove to their supporters that they can break losing series.
The game in Abadan was also worth to mention about. Second ranked Zob Ahan (16-5) played at the court of 6th ranked Naft Abadan (12-9). Zob Ahan managed to secure a 7-point victory 81-74. It was a good game for international Rasoul Mozafari (188-1994) who led his team to a victory with 20 points and 7 rebounds. Dwight Buycks contributed with 14 points and 9 assists (went 7 for 7 at the free throw line) for the winners. Zob Ahan's coach Mehran Hatami allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. The former international center Hamed Haddadi (218-1985, agency: BIG) answered with a triple-double by scoring 11 points, 18 rebounds and 12 assists for Naft Abadan. Zob Ahan maintains second place with 16-5 record having just three points less than leader Gorgan. Naft Abadan at the other side dropped to the fifth position with nine games lost. They share it with Kerman. Zob Ahan will play against Limondis (#9) in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Naft Abadan will play against Raad (#12) and hopes to get back on the winning track.
We should mention about the upset which took place in Bandar Abbass, where higher ranked Kerman (12-9) lost to eleventh ranked Foolad (5-16) in a road game 64-74 on Thursday. It ended at the same time the five-game winning streak of Kerman. Marko Perovic stepped up and scored 25 points and 8 rebounds (on 11-of-14 shooting from the field) for the winners. The best for the losing side was Aleksandar Mitrovic with 21 points. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Newly promoted Foolad maintains eleventh place with 5-16 record. Loser Kerman keeps the fifth position with nine games lost. They share it with Naft Abadan. Foolad will meet higher ranked Kalleh (#7) in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Kerman will play against Averta and hope to secure a win.

Other games of round 21 were very predictable and ended without any surprises. Here they are:
Kalleh crushed Rafsanjan in Amol 94-46. Bottom-ranked Raad was beaten by Mahram at home 83-90. Limondis lost to Tabiat on the opponent's court 70-84.
The best stats of 21th round was 41 points (!!!) and 4 assists by Jordan Stevens of Tabiat.



Averta - Gorgan 75-87

Leader Gorgan delivered the nineteenth win on Thursday night. This time they beat 8th ranked Averta (8-13) 87-75. Gorgan outrebounded Averta 42-28 including 31 on the defensive glass. The best player for the winners was American point guard Will Cherry (185-1991, college: Montana) who scored 29 points and 4 assists. International point guard Sina Vahedi (185-2001) chipped in 21 points and 5 rebounds. Gorgan's coach Mostafa Hashemi used an eleven-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. At the other side the best for losing team was the former international Majid Rahimian who recorded 23 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists and Dutch power forward Jeroen van der List (213-1989, college: Indian Hills, agency: BIG) added 21 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists respectively. Gorgan have a solid series of four victories in a row. Defending champion maintains first place with 19-2 record. Averta lost sixth consecutive game. Newly promoted team keeps the eighth position with 13 games lost. Gorgan are looking forward to face Tabiat (#3) in the next round, which may be the game of the day. Averta will play against Kerman (#5) and is hoping to prove to their supporters that they can break losing series.
Top scorers:
Gorgan: W.Cherry 29+4reb+4ast, V.Sina 21+5reb+2ast, A.Kazemi 10+8reb+4ast, S.Monji 9+11reb, A.Azari 8+3reb, Y.Mohammad 5+4reb
Averta: R.Majid 23+6reb+4ast, J.van der List 21+7reb+5ast, F.Nima 18+2reb+1ast, H.Mahdi 4+1reb, A.Mortazavi 3+3reb, A.Najafi 2+2ast

Rafsanjan - Kalleh 46-94

There was no surprise when 10th ranked Rafsanjan (6-15) was crushed at home by seventh ranked Kalleh (11-10) 94-46 on Thursday. Kalleh held Rafsanjan to an opponent 22.4 percent shooting from the field compared to 41.3 percent accuracy of the winners. They outrebounded Rafsanjan 54-29 including a 37-22 advantage in defensive rebounds. The former international Matin Aghajanpour (198-2001) stepped up and scored 21 points and 7 rebounds for the winners and American point guard Patrick Rembert (185-1990, college: UC Irvine) chipped in 13 points and 7 assists. The best for the losing side was American power forward Jervon Pressley (203-1992, college: Hampton) with 14 points and 8 rebounds and Taha Reza scored 10 points. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Newly promoted Kalleh maintains seventh place with 11-10 record. Loser Rafsanjan keeps the tenth position with 15 games lost. Kalleh will meet at home Foolad (#11) in the next round. Rafsanjan will play against Mahram in Tehran and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Kalleh: A.Matin 21+7reb+2ast, P.Rembert 13+4reb+7ast, Y.Amirhossein 13+7reb+1ast, L.Mohammadmahdi 12+2reb+1ast, M.Mirzaei 9+8reb+2ast, A.Jalal 9+4reb+3ast
Rafsanjan: J.Pressley 14+8reb, R.Taha 10+3reb+3ast, G.Amir 8+3reb, K.Amir 5, A.Meysam 3+6reb, A.Reza 3

Raad - Mahram 83-90

No shocking result in a game in Mashhad where fourth ranked Mahram (14-7) defeated bottom-ranked Raad (1-20) 90-83 on Thursday. Mahram dominated down low during the game scoring 60 of its points in the paint compared to Raad's 40. The former international Mohammad Jamshidi (199-1991, agency: BIG) stepped up with a double-double by scoring 38 points (!!!) and 10 assists for the winners and the former international point guard Sajjad Mashayekhi (180-1994) chipped in 18 points. Mahram's coach Farzad Kouhian used a ten-player rotation and allowed the starting five to rest. The best for the losing side was the former international swingman Ehsan Samadi (192-1998) with 20 points and 8 rebounds and Hosein Shekari scored 21 points and 4 assists. Mahram have a solid series of four victories in a row. They maintain fourth place with 14-7 record. Raad lost eighteenth consecutive game. They stay dead last with 20 lost games. Mahram will meet at home Rafsanjan (#10) in the next round which should be theoretically an easy game. Raad will play against Naft Abadan and hope to win that game.
Top scorers:
Mahram: M.Jamshidi 38+1reb+10ast, S.Mashayekhi 18+1reb+1ast, H.Mohammad 11+3reb+1ast, S.Ali Reza 7+7reb, A.Khandanpour 6+5reb, S.Pazrofteh 6+7reb+2ast
Raad: S.Hosein 21+4reb+4ast, E.Samadi 20+8reb+1ast, F.Pedram 16+4reb+3ast, A.Bostanian 9+3reb+2ast, J.Behnam 8+4reb+1ast, V.Mohsen 5+2reb

Naft Abadan - Zob Ahan 74-81

The game in Abadan was also worth to mention about. Second ranked Zob Ahan (16-5) played at the court of 6th ranked Naft Abadan (12-9). Zob Ahan managed to secure a 7-point victory 81-74. Strangely Naft Abadan outrebounded Zob Ahan 47-33 including a 40-24 advantage in defensive rebounds. It was a good game for international Rasoul Mozafari (188-1994) who led his team to a victory with 20 points and 7 rebounds. American point guard Dwight Buycks (191-1989, college: Marquette, agency: Epic Sports Consulting LLC) contributed with 14 points and 9 assists (went 7 for 7 at the free throw line) for the winners. Four Zob Ahan players scored in double figures. Zob Ahan's coach Mehran Hatami allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. The former international center Hamed Haddadi (218-1985, agency: BIG) answered with a triple-double by scoring 11 points, 18 rebounds and 12 assists and the former international forward Navid Khajezadeh (196-1996) added 17 points and 5 rebounds in the effort for Naft Abadan. Zob Ahan maintains second place with 16-5 record having just three points less than leader Gorgan. Naft Abadan at the other side dropped to the fifth position with nine games lost. They share it with Kerman. Zob Ahan will play against Limondis (#9) in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Naft Abadan will play against Raad (#12) and hopes to get back on the winning track.
Top scorers:
Zob Ahan: R.Mozafari 20+7reb+3ast, J.Jones 17+6reb+1ast, D.Buycks 14+3reb+9ast, M.Hossien 12, R.Arghavan 8+5reb+1ast, M.Soleymani 6+5reb
Naft Abadan: N.Khajezadeh 17+5reb+2ast, D.Ehsan 16+4reb+3ast, H.Haddadi 11+18reb+12ast, H.Mehdi 9+6reb, S.Amir 6+3reb, A.Taherkhani 6+3reb+1ast

Foolad - Kerman 74-64

We should mention about the upset which took place in Bandar Abbass, where higher ranked Kerman (12-9) lost to eleventh ranked Foolad (5-16) in a road game 64-74 on Thursday. It ended at the same time the five-game winning streak of Kerman. Montenegrin center Marko Perovic (204-1992, agency: PEPI SPORT) stepped up and scored 25 points and 8 rebounds (on 11-of-14 shooting from the field) for the winners and American point guard JVon McCormick (183-1997, college: Auburn, agency: BIG) chipped in 12 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. The best for the losing side was Serbian forward Aleksandar Mitrovic (203-1990) with 21 points and Mohsen Moradkhani scored 7 points and 7 rebounds. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Newly promoted Foolad maintains eleventh place with 5-16 record. Loser Kerman keeps the fifth position with nine games lost. They share it with Naft Abadan. Foolad will meet higher ranked Kalleh (#7) in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Kerman will play against Averta and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Foolad: M.Perovic 25+8reb, J.McCormick 12+7reb+8ast, G.Omid 9+3reb, S.Pooria 8+1reb+2ast, J.Sarem 7+6reb, H.Eshagh 6+4reb+1ast
Kerman: A.Mitrovic 21+1reb, A.Mehdi 9+3reb+2ast, M.Amirhosein 7+5reb+1ast, M.Mohsen 7+7reb+1ast, H.Seyed 5+1reb+1ast, C.Henry 5+6reb+2ast

Tabiat - Limondis 84-70

Very expected game when 9th ranked Limondis (7-14) were defeated on the road by third ranked Tabiat (15-6) 84-70 on Thursday. American point guard Jordan Stevens (182-1994, college: Midwestern St.) stepped up and scored 41 points (!!!) and 4 assists for the winners and Montenegrin-Serbian forward Nikola Dragovic (206-1987, college: UCLA) chipped in 18 points and 12 rebounds. The best for the losing side was American point guard Jalen Bradley (185-1993, college: ORU, agency: Haylett Sports) with 22 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists and the former international Vahid Dalirzahan (199-1995) scored 13 points and 7 rebounds. Limondis' coach Mohammad Eslami rotated ten players and allowed the starting five to get some rest. Tabiat have an impressive series of six victories in a row. Newly promoted Tabiat maintains third place with 15-6 record having four points less than leader Gorgan. Limondis at the other side, also newcomer in the league, keep the ninth position with 14 games lost. Tabiat will meet league's leader Gorgan on the road in the next round and it will be for sure the game of the week. Limondis will play against the league's second-placed Zob Ahan (#2) in Esfahan and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Tabiat: J.Stevens 41+1reb+4ast, N.Dragovic 18+12reb, J.Ashkan 10+4reb+3ast, S.Davarpanah 5+2reb+3ast, A.Akbari Hasan 4+11reb, J.Matin 2+1ast
Limondis: J.Bradley 22+7reb+6ast, V.Aliabadi 14+1reb+2ast, V.Dalirzahan 13+7reb+2ast, K.Mohammadamin 7+7reb+1ast, M.Khaleghifard 4+6reb+1ast, S.Mortaza Jafari 4+1ast