Asian powerhouse Iran will test their mettle against world No. 12 Czech Republic in both teams’ first outing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics men’s basketball tournament. Will Iran score a gigantic underdog win? Or will the Czech Republic preserve order in the world by avoiding an upset loss? Check out our preview of this game below.
Iran is a long shot to win a medal, let alone the gold, in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics men’s basketball tournament. It could be remembered that Iran went 0-3 in the group stages of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, but up a gallant stand against Spain, losing to the superpower by only eight points, 73-65. If Iran could be that much of a trouble for the Spaniards, then the Iranians can possibly be a bigger thorn on the side of the Czech Republic. Moreover, as Iran is also grouped together with USA and France, it appears that the Iranians best chance of scoring a win in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics would be in the game against the Czechs. Iran will be bannered by veteran big man Hamed Haddadi, while the likes of Samad Nikkhah Barami and Arsalan Kazemi will be among the main guys on the perimeter.
Many people could be sleeping on the Czech Republics’s chances to medal in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Led by Chicago Bulls guard Tomas Satoransky, the Czech had an impressive performance in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Victoria, Canada, where they beat the host country and Greece. The Czech went on to win the tournament, setting themselves up with a nice momentum ahead of the Olympics. Apart from Satoransky, who averaged 7.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in 22.5 minutes per game for the Bulls in the 2020-21 NBA season, the Czech Republic will also be relying on Blake Schilb, who had 31 points in the win over Canada. Big man Ondrej Blavin, who led the Czech in rebounding in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup with 8.4 boards per game will be a problem matchup for Iran’s frontcourt.
