KUALA LUMPUR (Mageshwaran's AsiaScope) - How was 2014 for FIBA Asia? Well, to quote a most-oft used and age-old cliché… The glass is getting fuller. Skeptics may insist that the 'empty' part of the glass is taking long to fill, but the optimists will quell such distracting arguments that there is indeed upward movement in the 'full' part.

Let's do a 14-point breeze through to see what happened in, and for, FIBA Asia in 2014.

1. Failures at Spain 2014
A former president of India once quipped that "to FAIL was the First Attempt In Learning". More than motivational lip service in the context of the Asian teams' performance at FIBA's flag ship event – the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. None of the three teams in fray went past the initial grind of the Group Phase, but then Spain 2014 presented the prefect platform for Iran, Philippines and Korea to test how far they had travelled in the road to progress. And more importantly, how much more they need to travel to break the glass ceiling.

2. Gilas Pilipinas at Spain
The disappointment in terms of results notwithstanding, Gilas Pilipinas came out all guns all blazing, presented a gallant show of themselves and returned home with their heads certainly high. Philippines stretched the much better equipped Croatia into overtime, ran the far more accomplished Argentina very close, kept the better Puerto Rico on their toes… and finally beat Senegal for the first win at the world's biggest basketball event in almost four decades. The Filipino fan brigade that included a large number of expats living in the city did have a lot to cheer for at Seville.

3. Japan could have done better at Turkey 2014…
Japanese women ended 2013 at an all-time high having won the FIBA Asia Championship for Women after a real long gap. But fast-forward almost exactly a year later and things certainly were not as bright after the Hayabusa women lost all their three games in - and bowed out at - the Group Phase at the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women in Turkey. The ACL injury to Asami Yoshida proved literally debilitating to a campaign that otherwise looked promising, and a poor choice of selection on Maki Takada's inclusion proved disastrous.

4. … but China women excelled
On the other hand, Chinese women, who finished 2013 having failed to make the Final of a FIBA Asia Championship for Women for the first time in more than a decade finished on a high a year later. Given no chance at the start of the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women in Turkey, a team of young novices went all the way to the Quarter-Finals, competed with great intensity to finish with a very creditable sixth-place finish. China did unearth some superb talent en route.

5. A young China beat the mighty Iran…
Moving away from the international stage and to within FIBA Asia, China's youngsters did catch the attention during the 5th FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan, China. Fielding a team that averaged just above teens in age, China handed the Spain-bound Iran their first defeat in a FIBA Asia competition in more than two years. A shot in the arm for China's development program.

6. … and India beat the same China
At the very same event, and involving the very same Chinese team, came another result of historical nature with India beating China marking the first time any Indian team had beaten any Chinese team in any gender and at any level in an international basketball game. How much will India capitalize on this result? Time will tell.

7. Japanese magic over China
Another historic first Chinese defeat. This time at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, Korea and at the hands of an otherwise struggling Japanese team that sent China out of the medals bracket for the first time in the history of Asia's 'Olympics'. And after China were leading by double-digits at one stage in the fourth quarter at that. Truly, a hard lesson to learn, a bitter pill to swallow, for a team that is called the 'Olympic' team - with the 2016 Rio Olympics in mind.

Mull on these for now. In seven days, we'll look at another seven to complete the 14.

So long… 

S Mageshwaran

FIBA Asia

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.