8 Yanyuhang Ding (CHN)
08/11/2017
Enzo Flojo's Asia On My Mind
to read

Matching up will be more crucial than ever at Asian Qualifiers

MANILA (Enzo Flojo's Asia on My Mind) - Perhaps more than having a deep talent pool, matching up well with opposing teams will be the crucial element at the Asian Qualifiers this month.

One critical factor in the coming FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers is the fact that each team will face two other sides in the space of a few days, and these teams are allowed to change their rosters after the first game and heading into the second.

This wrinkle may seem minor to a lot of casual fans, but it is a deeply significant element that opens up a ton of tactical possibilities, especially for coaches.

The main implication of the ability to tweak or completely overhaul one's roster in-between games is that a coach can, for the first time ever, a head coach can tailor his squad to address specific matchups or, conversely, create mismatches against his next opponent.

In the "old" framework of having to play an entire 12-man squad for a nearly two-week long tournament, a coach was constricted to his "dirty dozen" no matter whom they faced. This time around a coach may - to the extreme - use 12 men in their first game and then play an entirely different set of 12 men in their second.

Take, for example, Chinese Taipei. They first face powerhouse and recent FIBA Asia Cup 2017 champions Australia on 24 November before playing in Manila against the Philippines on 27 November. Coach Chou Chun-San, if he wanted to, may choose to rest his rising stars against Australia - preserving them from possible injury and having them fresh against the Filipinos. Perhaps if coach Chou felt his team matched up better with the Philippines, especially in terms of size, he may opt to have a bigger frontline in their second game and have a younger, smaller frontcourt in their first. This could mean allowing Lee Te-Wei, Chou Po-Hsun and Tseng Hsiang-Chun to be the main frontline players against the Boomers before turning to old reliables like Quincy Davis, Tien Lei, Tseng Wen-Ting and Chou Po-Chen against Gilas Pilipinas.

Of course, it is also entirely possible - and intriguing - how coaches can use this to try and outwit each other. Think of it as a chess game where coaches try to predict how the other will reshuffle his roster and react to certain assumptions or expectations. The trick is to try and be a step ahead of one's opponents!

It will also be interesting to see how teams may opt to alter their play styles depending of their opponents. For instance, a team like Korea may opt to go big and feed their centers against a smaller team like Hong Kong, but they can then switch to their bread-and-butter of speed and shooting when ranged against much bigger squads from China and New Zealand.

That's a range of choices that was never really available to national teams in past formats, but given the new competition system, this additional tactical layer makes the playing and coaching experience a lot richer. It also means fans will be able to see a lot more players in action for their respective countries. Whereas only 12 players saw action in past competitions, this time around as many as 24 can play in one window.

This coupled with the home-and-away nature of the competitions system that gives hoop nuts the opportunity to see their hardcourt idols in the flesh really makes the Asian Qualifiers groundbreaking and revolutionary.

Enzo Flojo

FIBA

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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.

Enzo Flojo

Enzo Flojo

Enzo Flojo, one of Manila’s top basketball bloggers, always has Asian basketball on his mind. His biggest basketball dream? To see an Asian team as a legitimate gold medal contender in world basketball. He believes it will happen in his lifetime. If you have big basketball dreams like he does, then you’re in the right place.