In the first game of the second window of the World Preliminary Round, the Iranian men's basketball team played at home to the Kazakhstan men's basketball team. Before the game, I believe many fans will think that this is a game without much suspense, and the bookmaker opened an market for the Iranian men's basketball team to make 11.5 points. The Iranian men's basketball team is ranked 23rd in the world, and this game occupies the home side, while the Kazakhstan men's basketball team is ranked 70th in the world. The 4 previous encounters in this campaign, without exception, were all easy victories of the Iranian men's basketball team over the Kazakh men's basketball team. However, the result of the game was a big surprise, the Iranian men's basketball team lost to the Kazakhstan men's basketball team at home 69-73, eating the first defeat of the World Preliminary Round.
In the first half of the game, the two sides played incomprehensibly, and the Iranian men's basketball team led by two points at 38-36. In the third quarter of the game, the Iranian men's basketball team played a wave of 20-12, establishing a double-digit lead into the final quarter. Unexpectedly, in the fourth quarter, Kazakhstan played a wave of 25-11 and successfully turned the game around. Throughout the fourth quarter, the Iranian men's basketball team was like sleepwalking, the attack was cut off, the defense collapsed, and no one could stand up at the critical moment. It has to be said that Jacques Charlie's absence has affected the strength of the Iranian men's basketball team. But then again, playing the Kazakhstan men's basketball team is so hard, can only say that without Haddadi, the Iranian men's basketball team really declined.
The Iranian men's basketball team with Haddadi and haddadi without Haddadi is completely different. With Haddadi in the squad, the Iranian men's basketball team is the strongest team in Asia, and they even got tickets to the Tokyo Olympic Games. Without Haddadi in the squad, the Iranian men's basketball team can only be regarded as a second-rate team in Asia, or even a third-rate team. After the Tokyo Olympics, Haddadi did not play for the Iranian men's basketball team. In the days without Haddadi, the Iranian men's basketball team played a little hard. The Asian preliminaries against the weaker Saudi Arabian men's basketball team, although the Iranian men's basketball team won 2 games, but the process is very difficult, are played until the last moment to win. In the away match against the Syrian men's basketball team, the Iranian men's basketball team lost 70-77. The 2 games against the Bahrain men's basketball team in the first window of the World Preliminary Round were won easily by the Iranian men's basketball team due to the weakness of the opponent. Then in the second window against the Kazakhstan men's basketball team, the Iranian men's basketball team completely lost the style of the former Asian basketball hegemon, and the game became a rookie pecking at each other, and also lost the game. At present, the Iranian men's basketball team has won 2 wins and 1 loss in the World Preliminary Tournament, ranking 2nd in Group D. Although their progress to the second stage of the World Preliminary Round is not a big problem, but with their current strength and state, it is not easy to get a World Cup ticket.
The problem with the Iranian men's basketball team is obvious, that is, the talent gap, no one can take over the banner of Haddadi. Jacques Charlie and Jamsidi are the new cores of the Iranian men's basketball team, but neither of them has the ability to be leaders. The self-contained Haddadi supported the offensive and defensive system of the Iranian men's basketball team, and the teammates can find their own positions and play a cooperative. Now without Haddadi, the Iranian men's basketball team can be said to have no system to speak of, and the fight is very chaotic. In this game with the Kazakhstan men's basketball team, in the absence of Jacques Charlie, the iranian men's basketball team's attack is basically carried by Jamsidi, who scored a game-high 32 points, but had no choice but to cut off the power at the end of the quarter and only scored 5 points. Admittedly, Jamsidi's personal ability is not bad, but his organizational ability is average, and it is difficult to really lead the whole team. Perhaps to alleviate the offensive problem, the Iranian men's basketball team even recalled the 39-year-old Kamrani, but the effect was limited. To make matters worse, without Haddadi, the Iranian men's basketball team's inner line became very weak. Coupled with the retirement of Rostam Paul from the Iranian men's basketball team, Jeramipur's absence from the World Preliminary Round, the Iranian men's basketball team only relies on Kazmi in the inner line, which is obviously not enough. In terms of the substitute lineup, the Iranian men's basketball team is also miserable, and the substitutes have only scored a total of 6 points, which shows that they can use too few people.
The problem of the Iranian men's basketball team has long been exposed, but it has been covered up by the old and strong Haddadi. If Haddadi does not return next, then the Iranian men's basketball team may not be able to qualify for the World Cup. Looking further back, with the current talent reserve of the Iranian men's basketball team, I am afraid that it will continue to decline.