FOSHAN (FIBA U16 Asia Championship) - Day 1 of the FIBA U16 Asia Championship was full of excitement, and here are some of the major takeaways from all the action.

New Zealand are sure fire contenders

The Junior Tall Blacks were an unknown quantity heading into this competition. They had never played at the world U16 level and they would be making their debut at FIBA Asia's most competitive U16 competition. Nobody really knew if they were any good, but they put any and all doubts to sleep after Day 1. New Zealand blasted Hong Kong, 124-61, and they served notice that they deserve to be considered among the favorites to make it to the next round.

Height isn't always might

Many couldn't wait to see Philippines behemoth Kai Sotto, who stands 7ft 1in (2.16m) in action, and though he put up good numbers in his first FIBA Asia fixture (14 points, 16 rebounds and 4 blocks), the Philippines nearly blew their assignment against Malaysia. The much smaller Malaysians gave Sotto and his team a very tough time, and the same can be said about India's pair of big men in Harshwardhan Tomar and Princepal Singh. Against the smaller but quicker Koreans, both Tomar and Singh had a tough time keeping up. As a sign of the changing trends in the sport, the guards are dominating the game more than the big men.

Speed kills

Speaking of guards, many diminutive backcourt players really rose to the occasion today, most notably Teoh Yi Kang (Malaysia), Lin Lin (Chinese Taipei), Terrence Fortea (Philippines) and Takuto Kawamura (Japan). These players demonstrated and proved that even the smaller basketball players can make a significant impact on any team , especially with their speed and shooting. We saw Teoh , Fortea and Kawamura use their quickness on the offensive end, but we also saw someone like Lin be a vulture on defense. In all these, speed was the x-factor, not size.

Don't believe all the hype

Prior to Day 1, there were already several names floated as budding stars, including Kai Sotto, Chikara Tanaka and Tamuri Wigness. Only Sotto and Tanaka have played so far, and though they put up good numbers, both struggled with their offense. Clearly, both will still need to do a lot to live up to the hype. Speaking of hype, though, perhaps nobody has been hyped up as much as Australia guard Tamuri Wigness, who has drawn comparisons mostly to Kyrie Irving. Can Wigness live up to such lofty expectations on Day 2? We'll see.

Play smart and scrappy
When Malaysia knew they were going to face a much taller Philippines again, they knew adjustments had to be made. Malaysia knew they needed to model their style after a team that thrives even against bigger foes. That model? Ironically, the Philippines itself. The Malaysians did a swell job drawing the Philippines' outside the paint with their perimeter shooting, and they ran at every open opportunity. Malaysia proved that even underdogs can make a huge impact provided they are able to access only the most helpful opportunities.

FIBA