Asian Qualifiers Power Rankings: After the dust settles

BEIRUT (Lebanon) - The dust has settled in Window 4 of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers. Some teams are qualified and through to the World Cup, some have some more work to do, and some are in dangerous territory of missing the main event altogether.

Here's how they're stacked up so far after the four windows.

Team		Movement
12	Big losses were expected from India, who continue to give as much playing time to their promising youngsters as they can. They tried to stay competitive, but the gap in experience between themselves and the likes of Jordan and Lebanon were too much. Don't forget to check in with this team for the next Asia Cup Qualifiers and World Cup Qualifiers cycles though.	-
11	It's not as if the Steppen Wolves were supposed to be favorites against China and Japan in this window, but it's still unsettling to see that they are only shells of what they were in the First Round when they were handily beating teams left and right. Kazakhstan still have a good shot at qualifying for the World Cup and they certainly have the potential to do so, they just really need to get back to how they were playing earlier in the year.	-
10	Tough one for Saudi Arabia for catching the Philippines in a home game after a close loss, which was also a home debut for their superstar. Aside from that big loss to Gilas, however, Saudi Arabia did make things interesting against New Zealand in their first game of the window. Sure, it's another two losses as the team continues to struggle without star center Mohammed Alsuwailem, but they've put up a good effort.	-
9	Bahrain took the biggest losses among all teams this window in a 54-point loss to Australia, but you have to give credit to their following effort against China. Australia were really rooting for Bahrain to pull off the upset (as it would mathematically qualify the Boomers to the World Cup) but Bahrain came up short.	-
8	Quite a drop for Jordan here, mostly based on just how New Zealand really shredded their defense from start to finish. Not having Ahmad Al Dwairi to go up against the physical Tall Blacks obviously hurt as well. There is less pressure on Jordan in terms of World Cup qualification as both India and Saudi Arabia went winless this window, but it might be better to have some strong, confident performances to build on.	⬇️4️⃣
7	It wasn't until late in the fourth quarter of both games this window that China could breathe easily in confidence of securing a victory. They did get two wins here in this window but if we're being honest with ourselves, these victories weren't as convincing as one might expect from the mighty Team China, right? Nonetheless, these were important wins they put them in a better position to clinch World Cup qualification and maybe that will loosen this team up in future windows.	⬆️1️⃣
6	Gritty window from Japan. The loss to Iran is obviously not ideal, but it was not the worst outcome considering that they were a bit short-handed. The win against Kazakhstan was a nice display of how solid they can be defensively, too. All in all, a solid outing for Japan as they welcomed back Yudai Baba into the lineup.	⬇️1️⃣
5	Looking at Iran's results in Window 4 and you might not be impressed, but here us out. Beating Japan is never easy and the 30-point loss to Australia needs context. Iran were without Hamed Haddadi, Behnam Yakhchali, and Arsalan Kazemi in their trip down under... and they still managed to get their way back into the lead in the second half about the reigning Asia Cup champions. Not bad.	⬆️1️⃣
4	Maybe not everyone was impressed, but the Philippines did a solid job this window. They battled against the in-form Lebanon team and even though they lost, it went down to the final minute. They were expected to beat Saudi Arabia, especially at home in a packed arena, and they did so by a wide margin. There's room for a lot more to be expected from their fans, but the work they did here is not too shabby.	⬇️3️⃣
3	What a statement game from New Zealand against Jordan. It had been close in their Asia Cup encounter, but the Tall Blacks made it clear that they would assert their dominance right from the beginning and up until the end. The pieces of the puzzle for New Zealand are gradually falling into place and they seem to be on a good pace heading into the World Cup next year after confirming their qualification status.	-
2	Big, big win for Lebanon at home against a beefed-up Philippines squad before capping off a memorable summer with their first World Cup qualification in over a decade. To be honest, the Cedars are only at 2 because we aren't 1a and 1b scenarios.	-
1	After 10 games played in the span of 3 months, Australia are still undefeated. They took care of business against Bahrain with a massive 54-point win and then kept their cool in a win over Iran where they completely dominated in the final quarter. Their upcoming opponents will have to make the Boomers sweat a bit more if anyone wants to see a change at the top of these Power Rankings in the near future.	-

*The power rankings are entirely subjective based on recent events/results/announcements and is in no way a true, accurate ranking systems. All comments are purely those of the author.

** This version of the Asian Qualifiers Power Ranking is an update from the previous Power Rankings before the start of Window 4.