Mahdi Kamrani. Photo from Fiba.com
CHANGSHA CITY, China – Mahdi Kamrani, the heady point guard of Iran who almost played in the PBA last season, believes that there is no team that can stop the Iranians in the Fiba Asia Olympic Qualifier here.
“No, I don’t think so,” Kamrani replied to the Inquirer’s question with a smile, shortly before boarding the team bus to practice on Saturday in preparation for their first second round match against lightweight Hong Kong at 9:30 a.m.
READ: Iran guard Kamrani would love to play in ‘tough, exciting’ PBA
Kamrani has been very accommodating to ambush interviews just like this one, and quickly tried to tell the Inquirer that it was just a joke.
“All the teams here are good, especially when we get to the elimination (knockout) stages,” he said, with the towering Hamed Haddadi walking behind him and listening intently.
READ: Iran dominates, Taipei bombs out of Fiba Asia
“Look, we all want to go to the Olympics, right?” Kamrani, on whose hands-on leadership the past Iranian domination in the region have come from, asked. “That’s why we want to think that way.”
The Iranians have won their first three games by an average margin of close to 50 points, counting a 122-42 ripping of Malaysia on Friday morning.
Gilas Pilipinas will face Iran on Monday afternoon, the first of two projected clashes the Filipinos will have against their nemesis of the last three years.
READ: Gilas escapes USA for 2nd place as Iran rules Jones Cup 2015
Team Philippines has not beaten Iran since the 2012 Jones Cup when Haddadi did not play.
And while Kamrani and Haddadi climbed onto the bus with the Iranian flag, the rest of the team patiently waited for the one man regarded as the finest swingman in the region today: Samad Nikha Bahrami.
The sleek-playing Bahrami was not in the Jones Cup squad that handled the Philippines quite easily close to a month back because of a shoulder injury. He looked in perfect shape this time.
He may be the reason why Kamrani spoke that way. Be it a joke or not.