ULAANBAATAR (Mongolia) - Mongolia are building up on the excitement of their FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers debut, revealing a bold and exciting mascot to represent the team for the first time ever.
The Mongolia men's national team has already been recognized in the international basketball community as the "Blue Wolves", inspiring the Mongolian professional Art Toy studio “Nomad Toys” to come up with the final design for this fresh and fierce mascot.
The blue color of the wolf represents the energy and warrior spirit of the steppe Mongolians and aims to create a new atmosphere and pride that embodies the spirit and values of the national team.
"Since the time of Genghis Khan, blue has been considered the color of eternal heaven, loyalty, unchanging, and justice," said Tugsjargal Sambuu, Secretary General of the Mongolian Basketball Association, explaining the importance of the mascot's color scheme.
The Blue Wolf also wears the number 9 on its jersey, a number that symbolizes the power of the mind.
The national team players have well accepted their new "teammate" and would be more than welcome to have the Blue Wolf on the floor, each sharing their ideas on how it could help them out in a game taking in consideration what the mascot represents.
For me, it would be better for the Blue Wolf to play at the center because, you know, it has a big body and tall height. This will be an advantage!" said Azbayar Altangerel. "I think Bilguun, Enkhbaysgalan, Bolor-Erdene, Saruul-Erdene and the Blue Wolf will be good starting people for game!"
Gantsolmon Bolor-Erdene had a different idea on how the Blue Wolf would be integrated in Mongolia's game plans.
"In my opinion, the Blue Wolf should play in the forward position for the team," he said. "The reason is that, according to our coach’s strategy, in the final moments of the game, the ball is likely to come to the Blue Wolf after several passes, and this would create a high chance of a perfect finish!
"Based on their physical condition and height, I believe it’s best to position it as a forward. Additionally, our team has a good chance of winning, which makes this strategy even more promising."
"The Blue Wolf has an aggressive and heroic appearance," added E. Saruul-Erdene. "So combining Tommy Bilguun and it as our point guard could be a significant key to our victory!"
However, the Blue Wolf is not on the preliminary roster for Mongolia for this window, so it's main job for these next two upcoming games will be courtside support for the upstart national team.
While the competition debutants have yet to record a win, they've proven themselves throughout the Pre-Qualifiers to be capable of being an exciting and competitive team. They will try to confirm that capability as they go up against Japan at Utsunomiya-shi in front of a sold-out crowd on November 21.
The Blue Wolf will most likely then make his official courtside debut on November 24 as Mongolia hosts China at the UG Arena in Ulaanbaatar.
FIBA