CHENZHOU (FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017) - At the close of group play at the FIBA Asia Championship 2017, some players rose to the occasion and some shrank amidst the pressure.

HOT

Willie Warren (Petrochimi)

Chooks-To-Go had no answer for Willie Warren last night. The 1.93m guard was running rings around his defenders and just scoring at will, putting up 30 points on 9-of-17 field goal shooting. It's clear that if he goes off like that, Petrochimi look invincible.

Qais Omar Al Shabebi (Al Ahli UAE)

For the second day in a row, Al Shabebi was on fire. The 2.00m slotman for the Emirati side shone brighty as they finally broke into the win column after outlasting ONGC India, 72-71. Al Shabebi dropped 25 points and 12 rebounds in another sterling effort, but it will be interesting if he can do that again in the Quarter-Finals against Petrochimi.

Anthony Clemmons (BC Astana)

The 23-year-old Clemmons has had an up-and-down ride so far for BC Astana, but he was brilliant last night in their win over Mono Vampire. The 1.86m guard flashed fine scoring form as he tallied 20 points on top of 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. His production will be crucial if the Kazakhs want to go past the Quarter-Finals.

NOT

Andray Blatche (China Kashgar)

The much awaited appearance of Blatche finally took place last night for hosts China Kashgar, but he might as well have sat out. The 2.11m naturalized Filipino center was hardly a factor for the defending champions in their loss to Al Riyadi. Blatche played under 10 minutes and missed both of his shots, though he did dish out 6 assists.

Chooks-To-Go Philippines

The Filipinos have teetered on the edge of excellence in their first three games, but like in their loss to Sareyyet Ramallah, coach Chot Reyes's wards fired mostly blanks again last night in their critical tiff with Petrochimi. They shot a paltry 36.9% from the field, including 4-of-19 from beyond the arc. Compounding this was their deficiency on the glass, where they were outrebounded by the Iranians, 54-37.

Jason Brickman (Mono Vampire Thailand)

The Filipino-American floor general began the tournament impressively, but he has since been hampered and held down by Mono Vampire's last two opponents. Brickman averaged 18.0 points and 10.0 assists in their first two contests, but his production has dipped down to just 5.0 points and 4.0 assists per game in their last two assignments.

FIBA