Iran is grouped with Puerto Rico, Latvia, and Serbia
Iran’s first match, against Serbia (one of the top teams), is set to start in around an hour.
“ One of the biggest issues often for countries at the FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup is how quickly the players can become a unit and learn to play together but that will not be a concern at all for Iran.
All 12 players of Iran in the match against Latvia play together for the Koochin Amol club, which has concentrated on developing young talent and will be playing next season in the Iranian Super League, FIBA wrote.
And Iran's head coach is also the Koochin head coach Mohammadreza Nouri. The Iranian team features two sets of twins (Mohammad Hadi and Mohammad Mahdi Lakzaeifard and Amir Hossein and Nosratollah Yazarloo) with Amirhossein Yazarloo and Mohammad Mahdi Lakzaeifard due to be two of the team's leaders.
Sorena Alizadeh Goorandani meanwhile participated in the Basketball Without Borders Asia Camp in 2019 and Iranian captain Parsa Fallah led the Koochin team in rebounding and was second in scoring. Whether that continuity is enough to make up for a lack of elite talent - and size as Iran's roster has just one player taller than 6ft 8in (2.02m) - remains a major question mark.”
Iran’s first match, against Serbia (one of the top teams), is set to start in around an hour.
“ One of the biggest issues often for countries at the FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup is how quickly the players can become a unit and learn to play together but that will not be a concern at all for Iran.
All 12 players of Iran in the match against Latvia play together for the Koochin Amol club, which has concentrated on developing young talent and will be playing next season in the Iranian Super League, FIBA wrote.
And Iran's head coach is also the Koochin head coach Mohammadreza Nouri. The Iranian team features two sets of twins (Mohammad Hadi and Mohammad Mahdi Lakzaeifard and Amir Hossein and Nosratollah Yazarloo) with Amirhossein Yazarloo and Mohammad Mahdi Lakzaeifard due to be two of the team's leaders.
Sorena Alizadeh Goorandani meanwhile participated in the Basketball Without Borders Asia Camp in 2019 and Iranian captain Parsa Fallah led the Koochin team in rebounding and was second in scoring. Whether that continuity is enough to make up for a lack of elite talent - and size as Iran's roster has just one player taller than 6ft 8in (2.02m) - remains a major question mark.”
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