Bahrami open to play in PBA

TOKYO – Iranian superstar Samad Nikkhah Bahrami said yesterday he’s willing to play as an import in the PBA and disclosed he was invited to go to Manila for summer training by his former coach Rajko Toroman last year but couldn’t make it.

“It’ll be a new experience,” said the 29-year-old sharpshooter who hit 12 points in Iran’s 77-60 win over Smart Gilas at the FIBA Asia Cup here last Friday. “If I’m available and there is no conflict with my commitments to the national team, why not? I had hoped the FIBA Asia Championships would be in Manila next year because I know how much Filipinos love basketball. But it’s going to Lebanon instead.” The PBA’s third conference, known as the Governors Cup, allows each team to recruit an import with a height limit of 6-5. Bahrami is listed 6-6 but should be an inch shorter on his bare feet.

Without hesitation, Bahrami guaranteed the winner of the Iran-Philippines semifinal duel to eventually clinch the title. He declined to predict the outcome but said it was a 51-49 proposition for Iran over Gilas.

Against Gilas, Bahrami said a key element in Iran’s game plan was to keep L. A. Tenorio under control. “No. 5 killed us in the Jones Cup,” said Bahrami who once played as an import in the French league and saw action briefly for the Utah Jazz in the NBA summer league. “He doesn’t shy away from making the big shots and the big plays. He’s a really good player. So we focused on not allowing him to get his game going.”

Bahrami said compared to previous Gilas lineups, coach Chot Reyes’ cast is stronger, bigger and more experienced.  “They’re all pro players,” he said. “They know what to do on the floor. For us to lead by 20 in our game was a big thing because we respect the Philippine team a lot. The game was close for three quarters but in the fourth, their big guys got into foul trouble and couldn’t stop us from scoring inside. That made the difference. Marcus (Douthit) got his fourth foul early in the fourth then a big guy (Sonny Thoss) fouled out. This team will go far, it just needs to play more together so there is better chemistry.”

Bahrami said the Iranian team is in the process of rebuilding. Two recruits are from the squad that took the bronze at the Asian under-18 Championships recently – 6-3 Behnam Yakchalidekhordi, 17 and 6-8 Saleh Foroutannik, 18 who averaged a combined 28.3 points in the Mongolia tournament. Another future star is 6-6 Mohammad Jamshidi, 21, who tallied 13 points, including 3-of-6 triples, in 21 minutes against Gilas.

Bahrami averaged 24.7 points in three eliminations games here then rested to score only four in Iran’s 79-37 romp over Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals. “We came to win a

championship, that’s all we want,” he said. “We like the way we run our offense. Against the Philippines, we went to our big guys. We’ve got some new players so we’re still adjusting as a team but you notice how we’ve improved from game to game.”

Bahrami, who has been the Iran team’s anchor since 2003, said his best coach ever was Toroman. “I learned a lot from him,” said Bahrami. “He treated me like a son. He changed my idea of the game. He made me realize how far we could go if we play as a team. He gave me the opportunity to play and made me the captain of our team. He got the veterans and the new recruits to play together. Coach Rajko revolutionized the way we play basketball in Iran. He took us to the Asian championship and the Olympics. Personally, I owe him a lot for my own development. I miss him. I know he’s doing a great job teaching the game in the Philippines and I wish him all the best.”

Iran is now coached by Slovenia’s Mehmet Becirovic with Boban Mitev as assistant. At the FIBA Asia Cup, the team showed up without star center Hamed Haddadi and point guard Mahdi Kamrani but veterans Asghar Kardoust, Oshin Sahakian, Hamed Afagh, Rouzbeh Arghavan and Aren Davoudi were accounted for in backing up Bahrami.

Last Friday, Gilas erected a six-point lead in the first period on Jared Dillinger’s triple and the margin could’ve expanded to 14 if only Douthit didn’t backrim a dunk and Gary David connected on two triples. Instead, Iran scored five straight points to end the quarter down by a point. Late in the third, David sank two free throws to cut Iran’s lead to three, 50-47 but Bahrami closed it out with three foul shots to up the gap to six on a Gilas turnover 10 seconds away from ending the quarter.

Gilas gave up three consecutive turnovers to start the fourth and Iran capitalized to drop a 9-0 bomb. Douthit picked up his fourth foul with 8:06 to go and Thoss was tagged his fifth, time down to 7:52. Ranidel de Ocampo was hobbled with four fouls, leaving Enrico Villanueva to protect the interior. Villanueva got away with five points down the stretch but Iran still won with plenty to spare, 60-77. Gilas had 23 turnovers and hit only 5-of-9 free throws compared to Iran’s 20-of-30.