Expert
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Iran vs Australia |
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2017 FIBA Asia Cup, final, Monday August 21, 2017 |
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Nouhad Nawfal Sports Complex, Beirut, Lebanon | ||
Iran | Australia | |
56 | SCORE | 79 |
14 | Q1 | 18 |
12 | Q2 | 25 |
17 | Q3 | 13 |
13 | Q4 | 23 |
The Australian Boomers will look to take out the FIBA Asia Cup in their first attempt when they play the defensively solid Iran. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage of the final from 4am (AEST).
Fittingly, the tournament will be decided by the two best sides. Iran and Australia both made it out of the group stage undefeated, the only two sides across the tournament to do so and haven’t looked back in the knock-out stage.
Arguably, Australia have had more convincing wins, but they have probably played a weaker level of opposition across the tournament. After beating Japan, Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei in the group stage, they rolled over China by 26 points in the quarter-final.
China are the second-ranked team in Asia, but they were no match for Australia’s height inside the paint. It was a similar story when the New Zealand squad went down to Australia by 27. They simply couldn’t stop the attack, with Australia racking up 107 points.
Jason Cadee has led the way from outside the arc as well, the Boomers finally rediscovering their touch from three-point land after struggling early in the tournament.
Matt Hodgson has dominated the paint, Mitch Creek’s athleticism has added plenty and Brad Newley has popped up in all the right spots to keep Australia on top at both ends of the court.
Iran, on the other hand made their intentions clear at the start of the tournament with a thumping of India, winning by 47 points in a 101-54 thumping.
They followed that up with defensively sound efforts over Syria and Jordan to run out of the group stage, before beating hosts Lebanon 80-70 in the quarter-final.
It’s no mean feat beating Lebanon in front of their home fans, with a sold out arena willing the hosts on. With guard Bahman Yakchali keeping the scoreboard ticking over though, their tall timber has gone to work well in the paint.
For Iran, it’s their front court who will decide if they can win this. They have height unlike anything Australia has faced throughout the tournament with starters Mohammad Jamshidi, Asralan Kazemi and Hamed Haddadi all checking in at around two metres, Haddadi 2.14 making him the tallest player on the court.
With Hodgson’s domination in blocking, scoring and rebounding he will have a huge role to play as he did in Iran’s semi-final win over Korea. They only won by six, but Haddadi had 14 rebounds, eight assists and a block.
He is averaging 12 rebounds and seven assists per game for the tournament, and if Australia can’t adapt and play a more outside based game, trying to catch the defensive weakness of Yakhchali and Sajjad Mashayekhi, they may find themselves struggling.
Prediction
Australia should be able to adapt. Their shooting was good against New Zealand and so long as they continue that, they should get the better of Iran in a physical contest.
Australia by 5.
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