MANAMA (FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Pre-Qualifiers - Western Region) – The Western Region Pre-Qualifiers concluded earlier this week with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia finishing with a perfect 4-0 record.

The second round of the World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers, which coincided with the latter part of the Western Region Pre-Qualifiers, deservedly needs our special attention. But for those of us invested in the overall long term growth of basketball in the FIBA Asia region, the Western Region Pre-Qualifiers are as significant.

Here are the 4 eye-openers from the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Western Region Pre-Qualifiers: 

#1 Wake up call for South Asian teams

The FIBA Asia zone comprises 44 nations across five key sub-zones: Gulf, Central Asia, West Asia, South Asia, South East Asia and East Asia. Under the new FIBA Asia Cup pre-qualification structure, these Western Region Pre-Qualifiers saw second tier teams from Gulf, South Asia and West Asia matchup for the first time in history. The results were quite revelatory.

There was little to separate the two Gulf teams (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain) and the sole West Asian team (Palestine). But there was a yawning gap between these three sides and the two south Asian countries (Sri Lanka and Bangladesh).

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh lost their games against Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Bangladesh by a minimum of 38 points, and frequently lost by a margin of 50+ points. For future Western Region Pre-Qualifiers to become more than a three horse race, the quality of basketball within South Asia needs to keep improving in coming years.

Teams like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will need to treat these Western Region Pre-Qualifiers as an important wake up call. This is especially true for Sri Lanka, which has progressed to next year’s FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers.

#2 Palestine still over reliant on Sani Sakakini

What would Palestine be without its enigmatic power forward Sani Sakakini?

After finishing as the top scorer in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship, Sakakini remains in the elite bracket three years later. His 28.5 PPG, 17 RPG and ridiculous +37.8 EFFPG in these Western Region Pre-Qualifiers is miles ahead of all others in the competition. But in Palestine’s sole loss against Saudi Arabia, it was telling that the momentum shifted precisely when Sakakini had a little drop in performance in the third quarter.

In basketball it is often said that the brilliance of a single player can win you games, but not an entire championship. For that you need a deep and well oiled roster.

Consistency wise, can Palestine’s role players, led by point guard Mark Hill and small forward Abu Shamala improve in the coming months?

The answer to the above question might well be the deciding factor as to whether Palestine will feature as one of the 16 teams in the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup.

#3 Bahrain’s statistically incredible win over Bangladesh

The result was never in doubt, but it was the manner of Bahrain’s 126-52 victory that proved mind boggling. For a game that seemed destined to be consigned to memory as a regular blowout, Bahrain may well have elevated it to a historic status.

Consider these stats: Bahrain had 43 team assists on a mind boggling overall efficiency of +185. Bahrain's bench alone ended up scoring 72 points. All 12 Bahrain players were on the floor for more than 10 minutes each and all of them got on the scoring charts. Overall, the team shot nearly 55% from the field despite a high 91 shot attempts. 50 of Bahrain's points came from forcing Bangladesh into a whopping 34 turnovers. These are boxscore numbers you won’t come across very often for a basketball game.

#4 Saudi Arabia’s resurgence

The last time Saudi Arabia finished on the podium of an Asian continental event was way back in 1999. That bronze medal appearance was followed by mere participations in 2005 and 2013.

While it is premature to predict if the current squad can replicate 1999, it is fair to say that this Saudi Arabia team is the best we have seen in years. Boasting of length, athleticism, depth, skill and mental strength, Saudi Arabia were impressive right through their unbeaten 4-0 run. Notably, they showed the ability to raise their collective game up a notch or two when needed, in order to put away closest challengers Palestine and Bahrain.  

Among the 24 teams at next year’s Qualifiers, the top 16 will progress to the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup. From the looks of things, we could well be seeing the return of Saudi Arabia to Asia’s premier continental championship after a gap of five years.  

FIBA