Beirut (Lebanon) – Another FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2019 ticket was claimed as more and more clubs have emerged as champions in this past week of action. How has your team faired so far in this season?

Information and statistics updated as of May 9, 2019.

Return to glory

The Guangdong Southern Tigers claimed their first CBA title in 6 years after sweeping the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in 4 games. The Southern Tigers were just as dominant in the playoffs as they were in their 42-4 regular season run.

 

Nothing could stop Guangdong whether it was any of their playoff opponents: Jiangsu Kendia, Shenzhen Leopards, or Xinjiang. Guangdong went on an 11-0 playoff run and won the finals series by an average of 13.3 points per contest. This gives Gungdong the most amount of CBA titles among all franchises with 9 in total, blowing by Bayi Rockets whom they were formerly tied with.

Defensive Player of the Year Yi Jian Lian was named the Finals MVP after averaging 27.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting a blistering 70.9 percent from the field. He also got plenty of help from fellow national team star Xhou Peng who put in 15.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists per game and shot 50.0 percent from downtown.

Guangdong collect the second ticket to the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2019 as champions of the CBA, joining KBL champions Ulsan Mobis as the first two teams to qualify.

 

We are the champions, my friend

The Alfa Lebanese Basketball League and the Iranian Super League also crowned their 2018-2019 this past week.

Lebanese champions Al Riyadi faced a tough as nails Beirut team, but eventually came out of the series as victors in 6 games. Beirut were led by Ali Haidar, who joined the team this season after a number of seasons with Riyadi, and recorded 18.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. However, it was just not enough to withstand a well-balanced RIyadi team that featured one of Asia’s brightest stars in Wael Arakji. The phenomenal guard had 15.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists while knocking down shots at an efficient 58.9 percent clip from the field.

 

This is Riyadi’s 15^th league title ever and 12^th in the past 14 seasons.

Over in Iran, Palayesh Naft Abadan completed their overachieving season by beating Shahdari Gorgan 3-1 in the league finals series.
Abadan boasts an all-around starting five that featured high-level players like Saeed Davarpanah, Mohammed Hassanzadeh, Michael Rostampour, and Aren Davoudi. It was their captain Davarpanah that shined brightest in the series, leading all scorers with 16.5 points to go with 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game in the finals.

 

Streak in jeopardy

The San Miguel Beermen of the Philippines Basketball Association (PBA) have won 4 straight Philippines Cup titles so far, but the quest to their 5th straight might be a bit more troublesome. Magnolia have done a good job of fighting back against the mighty Beermen and while it will be a tall task, all they need now is just 2 more wins.

Ian Sanglagang continues to put up big numbers, even as he goes up against the behemoth June Mar Fajardo. In these first four games, Sanglagang is averaging 17.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game. He’s also getting a lot of help from upstart guard Jio Jalalon who is putting up 15.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per contest.

 

The Beermen have had mixed results surrounding the supporting cast of Fajardo who is averaging 24.8 points on 63.3 percent shooting along with 15.8 boards per game. They will need their sharpshooters to come out hot in the remaining games to continue the Beermen’s dominant streak.

 

The Beermen do have one thing to celebrate for now which is Junemar Fajardo winning his 6th straight Best Player of the Conference (BPC) award.

 

One more to go

The Fubon Braves dominated the regular season matchup against Taiwan Beer with 5 wins in 6 faceoffs, with Taiwan Beer’s only win coming in double-overtime. It’s been pretty much the same story in the Chinese-Taipei Super Basketball League (SBL) Finals where Fubon has won three straight games to start the series.

The games have been close, decided by an average of only 5.3 points per game but it’s been Fubon to collect all three victories. The Braves have gotten a surprising contribution from 22-year-old rookie Lai Ting-En who is averaging nearly 5 more minutes in the playoffs. Lai averaged only 1.8 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game in the season, but has cranked it up to put in 5.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.3 steals in the finals.

The clash of the two stars between Fubon’s Lin Shu Wei and Taiwan Beer’s Chang Yu-An has been as electric as advertised. Lin is averaging 13.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists throughout the series while the MVP Chang is countering with 16.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per contest.

Can Lin pull off one more game to take the title for Fubon or will Chang fight back to keep Taiwan Beer in the series?

Here they go again

 

The Finals series in the Japanese B.League will be a rematch between the Chiba Jets and Alvark Tokyo once again.

 

The Jets faced strong regional nemesis Link Tochigi Brex, but were able to beat them in 2 games to make their way back towards the championship game. Ace guard Yuki Togashi struggled in game one with only 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, but the Jets got 38 points off the bench to pull through. Subs Fumio Nishimura and Shigehiro Taguchi combined for 24 points on 6-8 shooting from downtown. Togashi bounced back for a strong game 2 with 21 points on 8-15 shooting and 8 assists to sweep the Brex.

 

The defending champions and FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2018 runners-up Alvark Tokyo had a little more difficulty get to the final stage, running into the Ryukyu Golden Kings. After going up in the series with a game one win, Alvark allowed the Golden Kings to tie things up by shooting only 3-17 from beyond the arc. Alvark’s three-point shooting returned to form in game 3, knocking down 8-15 triples to seal the decisive win.

 

Alvark’s Yudai Baba has been rock solid all-around with 9.7 points, 5.7 boards, and 3.3 assists in the semifinals but Seiya Ando has been just as important with 13.7 points per game including 17 points in the deciding game.

 

The Jets faced Alvark in the championship game last season as well, losing to the eventual champions 85-60. They will quickly get their chance at revenge when the final game of the B.League season is played on May 11 at the Yokohama Arena in Kanagawa.

FIBA