TEHRAN, Iran (4th FIBA Asia Cup): Iran rounded off their tour of Turkey losing 51-80 to Finland in the losers’ final of the Istanbul Cup on Friday, but coach Memi Becirovic reiterated his stance that this was only an exposure tour for the youngsters and much should not be read into the results.

Iran had lost 41-70 to Germany and 74-102 to hosts Turkey earlier on the tour.

“The tournament was very competitive, but we were not ready,” Becirovic said.

“First of all, we are not in full strength. And secondly we are on a larning trip,” the Slovenian who is gearing the Iran NT up for the 4th FIBA Asia Cup to be played in Tokyo from Sept 14-22.

“Our opponents here obviously were much stronger than us. I must give credit to our players for trying their best. Overall it was not a bad experience for us at all,” he said.

Mohammad Jamshidi led Iran’s scoring against Finland with 16 points.

FIBA Asia