MANAMA (Bahrain) & DOHA (Qatar) - It’s been a while. But now, we’re back.

FIBA Asia Cup basketball is back! We’re pretty sure that everyone is hyped up and counting down the seconds to tip-off time, but let’s take in a deep breath and quickly review what it is exactly that we are excited to see.

Introduction

A key part of the excitement at any FIBA competition is seeing fresh new faces eager to take the court for the first time. It one of the highest honors for an athlete to represent their countries at an international level, so it’s always fun to see how they perform.

Some of these ballers have played for their national teams in youth competitions. Some of these players have never played for the national team prior to the Qualifiers like Lester Prosper. For some, it’s not exactly a national team debut, but it’s the first time we get to see them play in a FIBA Asia event like Aaron Geramipoor.

All that matters is that we’re about to see them play at this level for the first time.

Level Up

As mentioned, a large of these players have gone through the baptisms of fire that are the FIBA youth events. They’ve all progressed and developed up to the level where they can be trusted to play with the big boys.

We’ve already seen some of these players make an impact in the previous window like Muzamil Hamoda and Matt Nieto. Hopefully, there will be more young studs that can take advantage of the opportunity at hand in these upcoming games.

If you’re looking for a cheat sheet on who to keep on your radar, we can suggest you to focus on Rashed Mustafa (BRN), Kobe Paras (PHI), and Seijin Mathew (IND).

(Seijin Mathew, FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2018)

Winner’s Mentality

Heading into this upcoming phase, there are three teams that have battled their way through without suffering a defeat.

The Philippines sealed an impressive win on the road against Indonesia in Window 1, led by the Ravena brothers. They’ll be fielding a relatively younger squad this time as they are scheduled to play twice against Thailand (November 27 and 30), so the task to stay undefeated might be a bit tougher than expected.

Lebanon are also undefeated, highlighted by an impressive average win margin of 31.0 points per game. The Cedars are known for their highly talented players and those stars have yet to let down their fans. Their opening game in this window against India (November 27) won’t be easy and a rematch against Iraq (November 29) afterwards is not a walk in the park either.

Last but not least, there should be no surprise that Olympics-bound Iran also have an unblemished record so far in the Qualifiers. The Asia Cup 2017 runners-up have had no mercy on their opponents, beating them by an average of 44.5 points per contest. They are among one of the best defensive teams in the Asia Cup Qualifiers, locking their foes to only 50.0 points per game. Iran’s undefeated record will go to the test against Saudi Arabia (November 28) and Syria (November 30).

There is no such thing as a sure win in the game of basketball, but so far in the Qualifiers, these three teams have yet to give us a reason why they can’t keep their winning streaks alive.

Upset Alert!

Let us repeat the first part of that sentence above: There is no such thing as a sure win in the game of basketball. It doesn’t matter how much better a team “looks on paper” heading into a match up. All 40 minutes of the game (or more if needed) have to be played until that final buzzer before a winner is confirmed.

Sometimes, the victors of those games aren’t who you’d initially expect! Just like in the first window when Bahrain beat India and Saudi Arabia beat Qatar. If you peeped at the FIBA World Rankings, both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were considered at a disadvantage, but that didn’t matter. They scored more points in the game, thus completing the beauty of an upset.

These potential “underdog stories” are what keeps us glued to our screen, lighting up our excitement throughout the entire game.

Welcome Back

The biggest story, without a doubt, is the fact that Asia Cup basketball is back into our lives. A lot has been going on ever since the first window came to a close earlier this year. But now, we’re back here once again.

The players and coaches have been patiently preparing and practicing, waiting for the day to unleash all of that pent up energy on the court in battle. There’s no doubt that they can’t wait to get things started.

Anyone who loves the game will surely be pumped up to see these teams in action as soon as possible.

Welcome back, FIBA Asia Cup basketball. We’ve missed you. Let’s go.

FIBA