MANILA (Enzo Flojo's Asia on My Mind) - The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers will be groundbreaking because these will bring the game to each Asian country for the first time in history.

And that, friends, is by far the best way to stoke the rapid development of Asian basketball.

As far back as I can remember, there has never been a home-and-away tournament encompassing the entirety of Asia, and the Asian Qualifiers this month promise not just the dawn of a new age but the continued growth of basketball in the region.

Even at this time, it’s easy to imagine that each and every stadium and arena that will host the Qualifiers is going to shake, rattle and roll with energy and pandemonium. The Nouhad Nawfal Sports Complex should be bouncing when Lebanon host India. Likewise, the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium, Goyang Gymnasium, Azady Gym and Smart Araneta Coliseum among others will be filled to the brim with fans and bursting at the seams with forceful passion. Never has fan support been so palpable, but now it will certainly be on full display for the entire world to see.

From the side of the players and coaches, having their fans right there in the flesh cheering their hearts out for flag and country is going to be a unique experience. Remember that in the past two decades, only seven out of the fourteen Asian countries in Division A have ever hosted either a FIBA Asia Cup or FIBA Asia Challenge. That’s Qatar, China, Japan, Philippines, Lebanon, Chinese Taipei and Iran. What this means is that this year – in a trail blazing effort that will affect Asian hoops for the foreseeable future - fans from Kazakhstan, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, India, Korea and Hong Kong will finally see their own national teams compete for very high stakes and in an absolutely grand scale against extremely strong competition - all happening on their own home floor.

I can already see it - national team promotion will be at an all-time high, whether it’s on traditional or social media. National team merchandise will be available and accessible in so many unique and new ways. This will create unprecedented traction for the teams and will be revolutionary in terms of generating mileage for the World Cup, which will be held in China in 2019.

This format will also help basketball be even more present on the ground, especially for the aforementioned countries that have never hosted a top level tournament. The game will cease to be seasonal in some territories and, instead, progress into a more regular occasion for teams and fans to connect and celebrate.

On the other end, speaking of the fans, they will finally get the games and exposure for which they so rightfully have been clamoring. For instance, Hong Kongers will get to see top flight New Zealand basketball on their home floor, and Taipei hoop nuts will see the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 champions Australia in the flesh. This opens up a whole new level of interaction and engagement that was just not possible in the old format.

This time around, we do not have just one host city. We have as many as sixteen in every window for the better part of the next two years. This is the best way to bring the game to all of its stakeholders.

As an offshoot of this format, the game’s popularity and relevance will be deepened in this part of the globe where the potential for growth is at its highest. These home and away games will spark the evolution of more vibrant basketball communities all over Asia as well as Oceania. These communities will provide the fertile ground for better grassroots basketball development initiatives like clinics and tiered competitions. This is how the growth of Asian basketball can progress organically, and that is the best way for the game moving forward.

All the groundbreaking and trail blazing begin this month, but this newfound basketball revolution should continue well on to the years ahead.

Enzo Flojo

FIBA

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