Iran Basketball NT Thread

[behzadir]

An update on Arsalan Kazemi:
His Visa for China was granted yesterday(Saturday).
So Arsalan will be heading to China next week,2 days after Team Melli arrives at Wuhan on Saturday.

Samad's wife gave birth to their daughter a few days ago. He was in France spending some time with them. He trained with the team today.

Everything looks on track for an Olympic birth guys! Hopefully the players can maintain their health and avoid any injury.

Way to go Arsalan for insisting on playing with the national team.Damet garm pesar

[behzadir]

Some good news for "Team Melli" as Mashhoon says:

* Samad Nikkhah Bahrami will start to train with the team with full force now that his injury has shrugen off. He will take part in team trainings after a week of working in the gym.

** Hamed Afagh and Javad Davari don't have a problem regarding their injury and are training with the team since the National Team arrived from Taiwan.

*** Arsalan Kazemi's issues with his university has ended into the National Teams favor and he is allowed to play in Wuhan. Seems the federation has been working on this problem for some time now. And Arsalan has been training with the team in Tehran before he left for the US to negotiate things over with Rice uni officials. So he shouldn't have problems in clicking with the team.

[Keyan]

It's official. Just talked to AK on the phone. He's GOING TO THE CAMP!!!!!!


HELL YEAH, ANOTHER GOLD COMING RIGHT UP.



--------------


Samad just had a kid a few days ago, He might not be making it to the camp, should know by monday for sure.. so don't rule him out just yet


EDIT: Samad is going. our entire roster is coming. hell yeah!

[Nokhodi]

On Arsalan's facebook:

"Ma ke aftim Asia "

Its a done deal.

[behzadir]

Arsalan Kazemi is said to be heading to the Chinese embassy in the US to get his Visa for the upcoming Asian championship. Seems things have worked out with his University and they have granted the permission for him to play with the team for 12-14 days in Wuhan.

[behzadir]

Arsalan Kazemi has talked with the Iranian media(ISNA) a few days ago. He mentions some good points and News about himself that comes in the following:


* He has had some good talks with Rice University officials in person to grant the permission to him for the 10 days at Wuhan last week when he went to US. Also the federation has contacted the Rice university officials permanently and there is a big chance he will join the team but he says he can't promise it right now.

** He has talked about the "Jones Cup" and what advantages it had for Team Melli. Finding out our weaknesses and strengths and getting into shape and harmony was a great achievement there. The other great point was Team Melli getting the needed moral booster after winning the trophy. Iranians developed their game day by day and got near to what they used to be, the only bad News was Saman Veisi's injury.

*** He speaks on injuries of our team and talks about the needed concentration that players should have when we're getting closer to the games. Though our team is having injuries our most biggest rival,China, is having a hard time with injuries too.
He quotes about the tough times the Chinese team is going through. One of their best scorers(Wang Shipeng) got injured in the London games and the injury that 7-8 players are dealing with right now.

**** Arsalan is quoted to say:"Our main rival is China,but other countries are eying the podium with great investments. I think Lebanon is one of the most strongest teams there. The Lebanese have acquired an American player to make up for their physical weakness,though this team is facing some other problems too. One of my team mates at Rice is a Lebanese(Ahmad Ibrahim) and in my last talk with him he said that Fadi El Khatib and Ali Mahmoud won't be with the national team. With Ali Mahmoud's absence that i think is one of the best PG's in Lebanon they will have some rough time."

***** Pointing to the Asian championship Kazemi says:"We have a crucial competition ahead of us. We have to fight strong rivals for the Olympic spot. Nothing can be predicted right now and we have to wait till the games begin in Wuhan. The only thing to mention is that before each basketball game is Hamed Haddadi's presence which won't allow other teams showing off their performance under our basket. Iran's National team has big players that can be remarkable at their full strength."

****** About himself being a player for Team Melli he says:"First i should say that i truly hope i can play for Iran. I'm not a selfish payer and i play the game with my team mates. Considering the fact that i play in positions 3 and 4,I hope to be a good rebounder in defense and offense and help open some space on the floor for my team mates to get the path ready for the championship,if i'm there to play."

[behzadir]

Veslin Matic,Iran's National Team head coach,had an interview with ISNA news agency and talked about "Team Melli's" preparations,his evaluation of the current situation of Iran and its rivals,the "Jones Cup" and injuries which players like Samad,Afagh,Kamrani,Davari and Veisi have and had.

Here you can see the interview in Parsi:

http://isna.ir/ISNA/NewsView.aspx?ID...1833548&Lang=P

If anyone needs the translation i will do it and post it(if needed)

[Farhad-7]

^
Iran's group games:

September 15
11:00 Chinese Taipei vs. Iran
September 15
18:00 Qatar vs. Uzbekistan
September 16
11:00 Uzbekistan vs. Chinese Taipei
September 16
18:00 Qatar vs. Iran
September 17
15:30 Chinese Taipei vs. Qatar
September 17
18:00 Iran vs. Uzbekistan
(times are +8GMT)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_FIBA_Asia_Championship

Qatar has many naturalized players like its football team btw

[EKBATAN]

thats sweet, i'd love to see kazemi, bahrami and haddadi on the floor together.

So when do they games kick off? can someone post the schedule?

[behzadir]

Starting 5: Sahakian, Haddadi, Afagh or Kamrani, Kazemi, and Bahrami

Sahakian will be benched with Kamrani and Afagh both starting the game.Afagh isn't a PG.

Our main lineup will be:

Kamrani-Afagh-Samad-Arsalan-Haddadi

At times when we need defense first,the lineup will look like this:

Kamrani-Davari-Samad-Arsalan-Haddadi

[Farhad-7]

Arsalan Kazemi sets to rejoin the national squad for the Asian Championship.

http://www.asia-basket.com/Iran/basketball.asp?NewsID=239754

They're saying they have an interview which will be published when his permission is given 100%.
Gooooood News!

Wow with Bahrami and Afagh returning to the team and now Kazemi getting to play in his first senior Asian Championship, Team Melli basketball look good!

Starting 5: Sahakian, Haddadi, Afagh or Kamrani, Kazemi, and Bahrami

[behzadir]

Arsalan Kazemi sets to rejoin the national squad for the Asian Championship.

http://www.asia-basket.com/Iran/basketball.asp?NewsID=239754

They're saying they have an interview which will be published when his permission is given 100%.

Gooooood News!

[behzadir]

ha cant get the passport done, trying to but its been a hassle getting that done
been trying for about 8 month now


This is what ali farokhmanesh said when i asked him why he isnt playing for iran

Yea im friends wit ali

Is it that hard to get a passport??! Seems to be an excuse more than anything else. Hope it gets solved if it's for real.

[Sharkie]

Is is me or does anyone else realize that sports except football (which has remained stagnant for years) have flourished. Less corruption and hashiyeh leads to progress. Hope IFF and the fans can learn from this.

[ali alipour]

ha cant get the passport done, trying to but its been a hassle getting that done
been trying for about 8 month now


This is what ali farokhmanesh said when i asked him why he isnt playing for iran

Yea im friends wit ali