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MANAMA (Bahrain) and DOHA (Qatar) – It’s been a while. But now we are back.
FIBA Asia Cup basketball is back! We’re pretty sure everyone’s excited and counting down the seconds to the start time, but let’s take a deep breath and quickly go over what exactly we’re excited to see.
A key part of the excitement in any FIBA competition is seeing new faces eager to hit the pitch for the first time. It is one of the greatest honors for an athlete to represent their countries internationally, so it is always fun to see how they perform.
Some of these players have played for their national teams in youth competitions. Some of these players have never played for the national team before the Qualifiers like Lester Prosper. For some, it is not exactly the debut of a national team, but it is the first time that we have seen them play in a FIBA Asia event like Aaron Geramipoor.
The only thing that matters is that we are about to see them play at this level for the first time.
As mentioned, a large part of these players have gone through the baptisms of fire that are FIBA youth events. They have all progressed and developed to the level where they can be trusted to play with the greats.
We’ve already seen some of these players make an impact in the previous window like Muzamil Hamoda and Matt Nieto. Hopefully there will be more young stallions that can seize the opportunity in these upcoming games.
If you’re looking for a cheat sheet on who to keep on your radar, we can suggest you focus on Rashed Mustafa (BRN), Kobe Paras (PHI), and Seijin Mathew (IND).
(Seijin Mathew, 2018 FIBA U18 Asian Championship)
Heading into this next phase, there are three teams that have made their way without suffering a defeat.
The Philippines sealed an impressive road victory against Indonesia in Window 1, led by the Ravena brothers. This time around they will feature a relatively younger squad as they are scheduled to play Thailand twice (November 27-30), so the task of staying undefeated could be a bit more difficult than expected.
Lebanon is also undefeated, highlighted by an impressive average victory margin of 31.0 points per game. The Cedars are known for their highly talented players and those stars have yet to let their fans down. His first game in this window against India (November 27) will not be easy and a rematch against Iraq (November 29) later is not a walk in the park either.
Last but not least, it should come as no surprise that Iran, which is heading to the Olympics, also has an impeccable record so far in the Qualifiers. The runners-up at the 2017 Asia Cup have had no mercy on their opponents, beating them with an average of 44.5 points per game. They are among one of the best defensive teams in the Asian Cup Qualifiers, blocking their enemies at just 50.0 points per game. Iran’s undefeated record will be tested against Saudi Arabia (November 28) and Syria (November 30).
There is no sure victory in basketball, but so far in Qualifiers these three teams have yet to give us a reason why they can’t keep their winning streaks alive.
Let’s repeat the first part of that sentence above: There is no certain victory in the game of basketball. It doesn’t matter how much better a team looks on paper heading into a game. All 40 minutes of the game (or more if necessary) must be played until the final bell rings before a winner is confirmed.
Sometimes the winners of those games are not who you would initially expect! Like in the first window when Bahrain beat India and Saudi Arabia beat Qatar. If you took a look at the FIBA World Rankings, both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were considered at a disadvantage, but that didn’t matter. They scored more points in the game, thus completing the beauty of a surprise.
These possible “stories of the homeless” are what keep us glued to our screen, illuminating our emotion throughout the game.
The most important story, without a doubt, is the fact that Asian Cup basketball has returned to our lives. A lot has happened since the first window was closed earlier this year. But now, we are back here once more.
Players and coaches have been patiently preparing and practicing, waiting for the day to unleash all that pent-up energy on the court in battle. There is no doubt that they are eager to get started.
Anyone who loves the game will surely be excited to see these teams in action as soon as possible.
Welcome back, FIBA Asia Cup basketball. We’ve missed you. Let’s go.
FIBA
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