Iran Becomes Asia’s Basketball Champion

Iran's Hamed Haddai Named MVP

Iran’s national basketball team defeated the Philippines 85-71 to become Asia’s champion. The Iranian team won all their nine games in the tournament, defeating South Korea, China, India, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Taiwan and the Philippines, to claim the championship.  

Iran along with South Korea and the Philippines qualified for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

UPDATE: Hamed Haddadi (pictured), a member of the Iranian championship team, was named the most valuable player of FIBA Asia.

Photo credit: Hamed Haddadi, FIBA MVP (BBC)  

Rebounder From Iran Powers Oregon With Double-Doubles - UPDATE

The Iranian-born Arsalan Kazemi, a 6-foot-7 forward with “a magnetic rebounding grip” helped 12^th-seeded Oregon upset 5^th-seeded Oklahoma State on Thursday in its game opener at the NCAA tournament. Oregon and Kazemi will be back today at 7:10 p.m. EST to play against the 4^th-seeded Saint Louis at HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA.

“I jump to get the ball,” Kazemi said after Oregon routed Oklahoma State. “I apologize if I get their rebound, but I just jump to get it. That’s how it works.” (The New York Times, 23 March)

“Just the type of young man that he is — quiet, humble, gracious — he’s hard not to like,” said Oregon Coach Dana Altman. “And the unselfish part of it on the basketball floor, everybody can see. And those are qualities that every team needs.”

On Thursday, Kazemi had a game-high 17 rebounds. Through four college years, the first three at Rice and now at Oregon, he has averaged 11.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.

UPDATE: Oregon defeated St. Louis 74-57, advancing to Sweet 16. Kazemi had a stellar performance with rebounds, assists and points scored. (23 March)

Photo credit: Arsalan Kazemi of Oregon Ducks had a game-high 17-point rebounds Thursday in upset win over Oklahoma State (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images/NYT)