Sotiris Manolopoulos, head coach of the Iran national basketball team, spoke about his team's determination to compete in this stage before the crucial match against South Korea in the semifinals of the Nagoya Asian Games. Manolopoulos expressed hope that the players would enter the court with more self-belief, referring to the recent challenges faced by the team.
Previous Challenges and Current Readiness
In this regard, Manolopoulos said: "We did not come to Nagoya in a good state of self-belief as we had lost two games in the World Cup qualifiers. Especially the match against New Zealand, which is a very good team and at the level of Australia, and we lost to them in overtime. We also faced recovery issues in the match against the Philippines and were not adequately prepared for a physical game."
Team Status Analysis and Absence of Key Players
The head coach of the Iran national basketball team noted the defeat in the first game against Qatar, stating: "We were not good at all and lost, but after that game, we held many team and individual sessions to motivate the players and remind them that nothing is over yet. I think since that day, we have competed more and become a more competitive team."
He also mentioned the absence of several important players, adding: "The situation was not good for us, and we lost a few players who were important for the team. However, the positive point was that the players who came off the bench showed their best version and filled the gaps left by the absent players. Now we are among the top four teams."
Manolopoulos concluded by emphasizing the importance of recovery and mental calmness for competing against South Korea: "The most important thing is to try to recover, calm our minds, and be ready to compete against a very good team. South Korea is a team with its own style of play and has made significant progress over the past year. We need to be ready to compete against them."
He also referred to the difficulty of the match against Bahrain in the quarterfinals, saying: "Yesterday's game against Bahrain was very tough for us. Bahrain has made good investments and has signed players from the NBA. I know their coach from Greece, and he is a very experienced coach. It was a hard game and took a lot of energy from us; therefore, it is important to be prepared and in good shape for tomorrow's match against Korea."
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