Who is Vahedi?

A little-known 6-1 Iranian guard came out of nowhere to nearly beat Gilas singlehandedly in the quarterfinals of men’s basketball at the Hangzhou Asian Games the other day. Mohammad Sina Vahedi, 22, was never considered a star on the Iranian national squad and in the domestic league, earned a dubious reputation as a nomad switching from team to team over the last five years.

But against Gilas, Vahedi played the game of his life as he sparked a blistering fight back from 21 points down to almost pull the rug from under coach Tim Cone’s troops. Believe it or not, Vahedi didn’t score a single point in Iran’s 13-0 blast in the fourth quarter but he tallied 12 of his squad’s last 16, including the free throws that shoved Team Melli to the driver’s seat, 81-80, time down to 1:33. Iran would lead, 83-82, once more on Navid Rezaeifar’s twinner with 1:02 left then Justin Brownlee closed out the scoring with a jumper to seal it, 84-83.

Iran outpointed Gilas, 29-13, in the fourth frame. Gilas missed 13 field goals and made only five in the last 10 minutes. Brownlee had 34 points entering the payoff period then went cold, missing three in a row, as Iran’s Arsalan Kazemi, the Washington Wizards’ second round pick in the 2013 NBA draft, hounded him all over the court to anchor a box-and-one defense. Brownlee, however, converted the marginal shot that made all the difference. Gilas committed six turnovers in the final period, creating momentum for Iran.

Only Brownlee, June Mar Fajardo and Calvin Oftana scored for Gilas in the fourth quarter. What kept Gilas’ head above water was rebounding. Gilas hauled in 13 boards, six offensive including three by Fajardo, to Iran’s nine. Vahedi’s time to shine came in three-time FIBA World Cup veteran Behnam Yakhchali’s absence. Yakhchali was one of four Iranians who played at the recent FIBA World Cup but aren’t in the Asian Games. Vahedi was on Iran’s team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and didn’t score a point in two appearances. At the recent FIBA World Cup, he averaged 3.5 points and 10.5 minutes. The spitfirish quarterback gained some attention after hitting 12.2 points a game at the FIBA Asia U16 Championships in Foshan in 2018 and the