Meet the BCL Asia 2024 Teams: Shahrdary Gorgan

DUBAI (UAE) - It is now time to meet the eight teams competing in the inaugural Basketball Champions League Asia (Asia) with the target of being crowned the champion of champions among Asian basketball clubs.

Here we continue with  Shahrdary Gorgan.

Overview 

Gorgan took a longer and more exciting route to get to BCL Asia, but here they are nonetheless. This season was their second in the FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) - West Asia. The went undefeated all the way through to the Finals, only to lose once again at the hands of a familiar foe in Al Riyadi. While they managed to win a game in the championship series, it was not enough to go all the way.

It was enough, however, to qualify for WASL Final 8 once again. The Iranian champions dropped a game to Kuwait Club in the Group Phase, setting them up with a clash against Al Riyadi (again!) where they'd unfortunately lose.

Gorgan eventually qualified for BCL Asia after winning third-place in a revenge win against that same Kuwait Club team that had just defeated them a few days earlier.

The proud club are nearing a conclusion on another run to the Final in the local league. The No.1 seed (20-2) suferred a loss to Tabiat in the first game, but have bounced back to hold the advantage moving forward.

History

Should Gorgan win the local league title, it will be their forth in a row. They've long been a premier club in Iran, ever since 1969 when the club was established, but it wasn't until 2021 that they won the championship for the first time.

And they haven't stopped winning since.

In FIBA club competitions, Gorgan have had success as well. They were runners-up in WASL - West Asia last season, too, also losing to Riyadi in the Final. In the previous edition of the WASL Final 8 however, Gorgan were unable to make it out of the Group Phase after losing to both Astana and Kuwait Club before flipping the script this year.

Key Player(s)

Arsalan Kazemi continues to be the heart and soul of this team. He doesn't score a lot but everything else he does across the board - whether quantifiable in the box score or not - brings so much value to the team.

Of course, you can't forget about breakout rising star Sina Vahedi (18.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game in Final 8) and Salar Monji (12.8 points, 8.4 rebounds per game in Final 8). Their contributions to the club making it to BCL Asia were just as massive as anyone else on the team.

Upcoming Schedule

9 June 2024 - 15:30 (GMT +4) - vs KCC Egis Basketball
10 June 2024 - 18:30 (GMT +4) - vs Pelita Jaya Basketball
11 June 2024 - 15:30 (GMT +4) - vs Hiroshima Dragonflies 

Meet the other BCL Asia 2024 Teams HERE:

 Shabab Al Ahli
 Liaoning Flying Leopards
 Hiroshima Dragonflies
and more to come!

FIBA