TAIPEI (FIBA Asia Cup 2017) - For the first time since he became a naturalized player, Quincy Davis will not be playing at a major continental tournament for Chinese Taipei.

Because of lingering injuries, the 2.03m center will miss the FIBA Asia Cup 2017, leaving a gaping hole in the middle for the Taipei quintet. That's a shame, of course, considering how they won the EABA Championship 2017 in emphatic fashion thanks to Davis's averaging a sublime double-double - 18.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.0 block per game.

Without the American-born Davis, coach Chou Chun-San will be resigned to rely on the aging Wu Tai-Hao and Asia Cup newbies Lin Chih-Wei and Wu Hung-Hsing to patrol the paint.

Davis first played for Chinese Taipei at the FIBA Asia Championship 2013 in Manila, making an immediate splash as he led the team to an historic win over China in the Quarter-Final. Since then, Davis has been the epitome of the kind of naturalized player all countries aspire to have.

Without him in Lebanon, the Taipei squad will have a difficult time containing opposing bigs like Hong Kong's Duncan Reid, Japan's Kosuke Takeuchi and Australia's David Andersen - all of whom Chinese Taipei will meet in the group phase.

This means even more production will fall on the shoulders of veterans like Liu Cheng, Lu Cheng-Ju and Chou Po-Chen, while two-time SBL MVP Chou Yi-Hsiang will also need to step up big time.

FIBA