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The United States of America recorded their first win against the Islamic Republic of Iran in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. It was a blowout of magnificent proportions. The USA routed Iran in the Group Stage game 120-66 for a 50+ point victory. Iran now run the risk of being eliminated from medal contention as they've lost their first two group stage matches.
Iran is ranked 23rd in the World FIBA rankings and their last podium finish came in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup where they bagged the silver medal.
Iran Olympic men's Basketball team’s roster: What went wrong in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics?
The 23rd-ranked Iran faced off against the world No.1 ranked USA and the scales were tipped against the Iranians from the get-go. They lost to the 12th-ranked Czech Republic in their first Olympic group stage match and their second loss today (July 28) puts them on the brink of elimination.
The top two teams from each group along with the two best third place finishers from the three groups make the quarter-finals. The Iranian men's basketball team features no current NBA players, which puts them at a disadvantage against any elite team in the Olympics. This is primarily because NBA players now feature on most Olympic rosters.
The 12-man roster for Iran consists of five guards - Mohammadsina Vahedi, Pujan Jalalpoor, Mohammad Jamshidijafarabadi, Navid Rezaeifar, and Behnam Yakhchalidehkordi. The forwards are Mohammad Hassanzadeh, Saeid Davarpanah, Mohammadsamad Nik Khahbahrami, Michael Rostampour, and Arsalan Kazemi. Finally, the two centers are Hamed Haddadi and Aaron Geramipoor.
The lack of experienced players led to the Iranian team's doom. The players have played in a variety of leagues around the world such as in China, Lebanon, Iran, Spain etc., but only one player has prior NBA experience - Hamed Haddadi. Haddadi played for the Memphis Grizzlies from 2008 to 2013 and had a short stint with the Phoenix Suns in 2013.
Moreover, the lack of distance shooting was also catastrophic for the Islamic Republic of Iran who couldn't keep up with the snipers on Team USA. Iran shot 9-26 (34.6%) from beyond the arc, while the USA dropped 19 threes on 39 attempts.
Iran also shot just 39% from the field while the USA shot 62.2%. The biggest disparity in shot efficiency, however, came from the free-throw line. The USA made 94.4% of their attempts from the charity stripe while Iran only coverted 53.8% of their free throws. USA led Iran in almost every category including points in the paint, rebounding, free throws, fastbreak points, bench points etc.
Almost anyone watching the Olympics group stage game expected a USA victory anyway. The Iranian team's leading scorer was Hamed Haddadi with 15 points in regulation with only two other players in double figures.
Also Read: 10 notable NBA players not participating in Tokyo Olympics 2020
