MANILA (Enzo Flojo's Asia on My Mind) – Stakes are highest when the fifth Asian Qualifiers window tips off later this month, and I'll detail some interesting possibilities awaiting our beloved national teams.

First off, let me say that as things stand, it seems like 8 wins is the magic number to ensure passage into the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China. Not all the teams can reach 8 wins, of course, especially with just two windows and a total of 4 games left for each squad, but there's also a small chance that teams who get below 8 wins can still qualify provided they finish at third place in their respective groups or as the strongest fourth place team overall.

Let's begin by looking at both Australia and New Zealand. Both teams are currently leading their respective groups with identical 7 wins and 1 loss records. Both are, technically speaking, just one win away from claiming berths in the World Cup. 

Australia will enter the fifth window winners of three straight games, including two huge blowouts in the previous window. To nobody's surprise, the Boomers will be heavy favorites when they host Iran on 30 November and then Qatar on 3 December. The Iranians can potentially give them a tough challenge if their last meeting in the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 Final is anything to go on, but with some key players missing for Team Melli, Australia have a strong shot at wrapping up their World Cup tickets in that game.

New Zealand will also play both of their fifth window fixtures on home soil, though their outing against Jordan on 29 November promises to be a barn-burner. The Tall Blacks will face a Jordanian side that have not yet won in the second round, and the home team should expect their West Asia foes to be extra physical and motivated when they play in Christchurch. Even if they drop that one, though, the Tall Blacks still have a very good chance to make it to the World Cup against Syria, who have not won a game since June of this year.

Apart from the Boomers and Tall Blacks, other teams that can potentially clinch World Cup berths are Lebanon, Korea and Iran.

Iran, who topped their group in the first round, have their work cut out for them in the fifth window. They will play two games on the road - one against powerhouse Australia and another against perennial contenders Philippines - and word is that top-level forward Arsalan Kazemi won't be around to make both contests. That's a big blow for a team that already saw the departure of veteran Oshin Sahakian months ago, and it will force coach Mehran Shahintab to dig deeper into Iran's talent pool and brace for very challenging games ahead. If Team Melli win their crucial match against the Philippines, that will keep the Iranians at second spot and potentially sink the Philippines out of the top three.

For their part, the Cedars of Lebanon are just a game behind New Zealand in Group A, and they very nearly topped the group in the previous window had they been able to hold off the Tall Blacks in Rotorua. It'll be an East Asian gauntlet for the Lebanese in the fifth window, though, as they go on the road againdt Korea and China. Lebanon will be confident against the Chinese, whom they defeated, 92-88, last September, but the crucial match will be against the Koreans, who share the exact same win-loss record as Lebanon.

Speaking of Korea, they just released their final 12-man roster for the fifth window, and they aren't holding anything back. They clearly know they can punch their World Cup tickets with two home wins, and they are pulling out all the stops. After hosting Lebanon on 29 November, Korea are set to tussle with desperate Jordan on 2 December, and prevailing in both means Korea are through to China next year. They're pretty confident, however, not just because they're playing at home, but also because they're riding high on a 6-game win streak.

On the other hand, a team not riding high on a winning streak is Jordan. Al Nashama have struggled in the second round after winning all but one of their assignments in the first round of the Asian Qualifiers. They lost both their fourth window matches by an average of 10.0 points and, to compound things, erstwhile head coach Sam Daghlas has left the program. Inheriting the reins of the national team is new head coach Joey Stiebing who also recently replaced high-scoring guard Dar Tucker with former San Antonio Spur and Toronto Raptor Justin Dentmon as their new naturalized player. Will these changes be enough to get Jordan back in contention for the World Cup? We'll see.

Like Jordan, the Kazakhs haven't had much luck in the second round, losing by double-figures to both Japan and Australia. Their last win, in fact, came in February of this year at home at the expense of Qatar, and though the Steppe Wolves are surely aching for a win, they won't be favored in either of their fifth window matches. One factor is the absence of Anton Ponomarev, who already announced his retirement from international basketball, and another is how both of their fifth window foes - the Philippines and Japan - have reloaded and will be playing at home.

Team Pilipinas are raring to plunge into action, what with some renewed energy surrounding the program and some stars returning to national team duty. Coach Yeng Guiao remains at the helm of what is the tallest national pool ever assembled, and he has at his disposal an unprecedented number of the truly elite players in Philippine basketball. Add to that the fact that the Filipinos will be playing at home and the odds seem to be in their favor to move much closer to their dream of making it to the World Cup.

Japan are one of the hottest teams right now in the Asian Qualifiers, having strung four wins in a row, but things may be drastically different for them in the fifth window as both of their big sparks - Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe - are tied up with their teams in the United States. Still, expected to return to the fore is Nick Fazekas, and if his production along with those of Daiki Tanaka, Makoto Hiejima and Yuki Togashi can still potentially carry Japan to a couple of wins against Qatar and Kazakhstan, inching them closer to the World Cup.

Enzo Flojo

FIBA

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