IRAN star Hamed Hadadi shrugged off his team’s fine start, saying they still have to hurdle tough teams not only from their group but also those from other brackets.
Iran found itself in the so-called ‘Group of Death’ with Korea and China in Pool C in the preliminaries, but is now atop the standings after a 76-65 victory over Korea.
But Hadadi, who played for the Phoenix Suns in the last NBA season, said that there are still a lot of good teams they still have to face in the tournament while mentioning host Philippines as a contender.
“We have a good team but China is a good team, Korea is a good team as well as Philippines. Every team is coming for the championship,” Hadadi said.
Hadadi’s Iran will take on a China team that lost its opening game against Korea, but the 7-2 slotman pointed out the defending champion will always be a force with Yi Jianlian in the lineup.
“They have a good team. After winning 2011, they are coming to get the championship. For us, we think (of) going for win every game,” said Hadadi.
“We really need to fight. We have to fight to win games,” said Hadadi.
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