Team Profile: Last call for Iran great Haddadi

JAKARTA (Indonesia) - Qualifying for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, Iran's fourth overall appearance and fourth consecutive, is a feat in itself. It may be the final time with the country's all-time great center, Hamed Haddadi.

Hamed Haddadi has featured in every one of Iran's World Cup appearances

The Roster

Iran have a trio of big names from their current generation of players on their latest 15-man preliminary squad: Haddadi, Arsalan Kazemi and Behnam Yakhchali.

Iran also have youth national team star Mohammad Amini at training camp, a player that has yet to make his senior national team debut. Once Haddadi does move on from playing, Amini could end up being one of the faces of Iran basketball.

The Question

With core players Haddadi and Kazemi at 38 and 33 years old, respectively, can Iran's younger generation, including Amini, Matin Aghajanpour (11 senior national team games) and Jalal Agha Miri (five senior national team games) use this World Cup as a launchpad for their careers and to help Iran remain one of the Asian powerhouses?

Matin Aghajanpour should become a leading light for Iran in the future

The Hope

Iran will get a feel for their prospects at the World Cup when facing Brazil in their opening game in Group G. They will want their main trio to come out turning on all cylinders, especially their big men too much to handle down low. That could help lift them to an upset in this first game. This could be followed with another win, against Cote d'Ivoire, for a 2-0 start, and likely mean "Team Melli" would advance from the Group Phase, a historic feat for the country.

The Fear

Due to Iran heavily depending on their stars to carry the load, teams zero in on them and force less experienced players to step up. This would put Haddadi in danger of not receiving the World Cup sendoff he deserves with Iran in danger of bowing out of contention in the First Round. The big man is already coming off an injury recovery, so Iran really needs his teammates to offset as much pressure on their star as much as they can.

If Iran, who nearly beat eventual champions Spain at the last World Cup, aren't able to pull off an upset in the First Round against them, or Brazil, the 17th-32nd Classification Round could be their destiny, and that would leave fans wondering if the team will ever take that next step.

 IN THE LAST 10 FIBA EVENTS

YEAR	EVENT	LOCATION	ACHIEVEMENT
2022	FIBA Asia Cup	Jakarta (INA)	5th
2021	Olympics	Tokyo (JPN)	12th
2019	FIBA Basketball World Cup	Beijing (CHN)	23rd
2017	FIBA Asia Cup	Beirut (LBN)	2nd
2015	FIBA Asia Cup	Changsha (CHN)	3rd
2014	FIBA Basketball World Cup	Madrid (ESP)	20th
2013	FIBA Asia Cup	Manila (PHI)	1st
2011	FIBA Asia Cup	Wuhan (CHN)	5th
2010	FIBA Basketball World Cup	Istanbul (TUR)	19th
2009	FIBA Asia Cup	Tianjin City (CHN)	1st

The Poll

 

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For a deeper look on Iran's journey to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, click here.

FIBA