BEIRUT (Lebanon) - The top scoring duo so far in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers is expected to return for Window 5.

These two stars are expected to continue their outstanding offensive performances in order to keep their World Cup qualification hopes alive, which means that they will only be adding on to the high amount of points that they’ve already amassed.

One-two punch

The two spitfire scorers are none other than Iran’s wing tandem of Mohammad Jamshidi and Behnam Yakhchali.

The 31-year-old Jamshidi has accounted for the majority of the points among the two with 151 in 8 games. This results in an average of 18.9 points per contest, which is second most among all players in the Asian Qualifiers and highest among players on teams that are still in contention.

Combined, Jamshidi and Yakhchali have scored the most points in total between two players on the same team in the Asian Qualifiers.

Top 5 scoring duos in Asian Qualifiers

National Team	Players	Combined Points Total	Combined points per game
Iran	Mohammad Jamshidi / Behnam Yakhchali	237	36.1
Syria *	Amir Hinton / Antouny Bakar	225	37.5
Jordan	Dar Tucker / Amin Abu Hawwas	220	32.0
Lebanon	Wael Arakji / Ali Haidar	220	29.3
China	Zhou Qi / Guo Ailun	199	30.3

* Not qualified for Second Round 

This should not come as a surprise as they were also among one of the top scoring duos as per point average at the recent FIBA Asia Cup 2022. In Jakarta, the Iran wings combined for 37.3 points per game with Yakhchali scoring 21.0 per game and Jamshidi scoring 16.2 per game, which was just slightly behind Wael Arakji (26.0 points per game) and Jonathan Arledge (12.5 points per game) who combined for 38.5 per contest.

How they score

Window 2 was the highlight of Jamshidi’s scoring rampage where he scored 32 and 41 points in consecutive games. It was especially his explosive 41-point performance against Bahrain that turned heads as one of the best scoring performances ever in the Asian Qualifiers.

While the younger 27-year-old Yakhchali “only” has 86 points so far in this Asian Qualifiers campaign, he’s played in only 5 games so far. This means his scoring average is at 17.2 points per game. The best game so far for the 1.90M (6’3”) guard was his most recent appearance where he poured in 30 points in an exciting scoring duel against Yudai Baba and Japan.

Jamshidi is usually conservative with his three-point shooting and rarely takes too many attempts unless he is in rhythm. His last Asian Qualifiers game against Australia where he went 1-7 from downtown might be considered as more of an outlier, as Iran were without Yakhchali and Hamed Haddadi which forced more offensive responsibility on to Jamishidi.

Yakhchali is more trigger happy from long range, leading the team in three-point attempts by a wide margin. He’s currently shooting 37.1 percent from that range in the Asian Qualifiers, which is not bad, but fans know how deadly of a sharpshooter Yakhchali can be. They all saw it at the Asia Cup where he made 13 of 22 three-point attempts, good for 59.1 percent. However, if you conveniently close one eye on Yakhchali’s 0-9 three-point shooting performance against Kazakhstan, he’d be shooting 50 percent from downtown among the other 4 Asian Qualifiers games.

Where these two contrast in long-range shooting, they are similar and should be considered a threat in the midrange area. Iran have to be selective with the midrange game considering their spacing with a player like Haddadi in the mix, but it’s nice to know that they can go with either Jamshidi or Yakhchali should they need to.

Why they can stay on top

Here at the Asian Qualifiers, Jamshidi and Yakhchali are ahead as the highest scoring duo… but it’s still a tight race. Among the scoring combos that are still active is the dangerous duo of Dar Tucker and Amin Abu Hawwas.

While Jordan do have plenty of offensive weapons, Tucker and Abu Hawwas are among the most reliable scorers on the team with their mix of three-point shooting and slashing skills.

If both Jordan wings are active for Window 5, it’s not difficult to picture them overtaking Jamshidi/Yakhchali as the highest scoring combination of the Asian Qualifiers. However, Iran’s pair of bucket getters are still in the lead. They’ve both been named to the preliminary roster for the upcoming window, which means it’s their lead to lose.

An additional factor to consider here is the relative pressure on Iran for results, at least compared to Jordan.

6/18 games played

All First Round results carry over to Second Round

		GAMES				GAME POINTS					POINTS
#	Team	P	W	L	%	For	Agt	+/-	FA	AA
1	New Zealand*	6	6	0	100	570	366	204	95	61	12
2	Lebanon* **	6	5	1	83.3	503	416	87	83.8	69.3	11
3	Philippines*	6	3	3	50.0	455	452	3	75.8	75.3	9
4	Jordan**	6	3	3	50.0	428	449	-21	71.3	74.8	9
5	Saudi Arabia**	6	1	5	16.7	372	467	-95	62	77.8	7
6	India	6	0	6	0	360	538	-178	60	89.7	6

For Jordan, they have yet to qualify for the World Cup. However, with Philippines, New Zealand, and Lebanon already qualified, they are in a good position to secure that final qualification spot with 3 wins.

6/18 games played

All First Round results carry over to Second Round

		GAMES				GAME POINTS					POINTS
#	Team	P	W	L	%	For	Agt	+/-	FA	AA
1	Australia	8	8	0	100	715	483	232	89.4	60.4	16
2	China	8	6	2	75.0	641	520	121	80.1	65	14
3	Kazakhstan	8	5	3	62.5	556	525	31	69.5	65.6	13
4	Iran	8	5	3	62.5	629	561	68	78.6	70.1	13
5	Japan*	8	3	5	37.5	558	610	-52	69.8	76.2	11
6	Bahrain	8	2	6	25.0	497	659	-162	62.1	82.4	10

Iran are in a more difficult situation in Group F, where no teams have qualified aside from hosts Japan. Sitting at the top are Australia and China, followed by Kazakhstan and Iran who have the same 5-3 record. Kazakhstan, however, have two wins over Iran which gives them the tiebreaker.

One of these top four teams have to (unfortunately) be eliminated, which is why Iran will have a bit more pressure to go all out in their remaining games. Expect some big games from Jamshidi or Yakhchali in their next two contests against China (November 11) and Australia (November 14) - maybe even explosive performances from both in the same game.

FIBA