Sotiris Manolopoulos, the head coach of the Iranian national basketball team, before the crucial match of his team against South Korea in the semifinals of the 2026 Asian Games, reviewed the team's conditions and stressed the urgent need for self-belief and physical readiness.
Challenges Ahead for the National Team
Manolopoulos stated that the Iranian national team has not reached an optimal level of self-belief. He referred to the team's recent defeats and noted that they lost in their last two games, especially against New Zealand, which is considered a strong team. Manolopoulos added: "We lost in overtime against New Zealand and faced recovery issues in the match against the Philippines, which affected our physical readiness."
He also pointed out the poor performance in the first game against Qatar, saying: "We were not good at all and lost, but after that, we held several team and individual sessions to motivate the players and remind them that nothing is over yet. Since that day, we have shown more competitiveness and have become a more competitive team."
Hope for New Players
The head coach of the Iranian national basketball team further mentioned the absence of several key players and explained that the team's conditions have been affected by these absences. He said: "The situation was not good for us, and we lost several important players. However, the positive point was that the players who came off the bench showed their best version and replaced the absent players well. Now we are among the top four teams."
Manolopoulos regarding the team's readiness before the semifinal match said: "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 that has its own style of play and has made significant progress over the past year. We need to be prepared to compete with them."
He also referred to the difficulties of yesterday's game against Bahrain, adding: "Yesterday's game against Bahrain was very tough for us. Bahrain has made good investments and has recruited players from the NBA. I know their coach from Greece, and he is a very experienced coach. This game took a lot of energy from us; therefore, it is important to be ready and fresh for tomorrow's match against Korea."
