Some rude shocks, some bitter pills… but surely some light at the end of the tunnel

KUALA LUMPUR (Mageshwaran's AsiaScope) - As the business end of things begins at the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women, the quick analysis of FIBA Asia teams at the world's biggest event for women's basketball is as follows:
- Japan: Failed to meet expectations.
- Korea: Meets expectations
- China: Meets expectations… with lots of hope.

Korea's results may not be the exact reflection of the state of affairs of the sport back home, with only an obviously second string and very raw, young team making it to Turkey.

But that Japan, the FIBA Asia Championship for Women winners bow out winless, losing all three games, is a pill far too bitter to swallow for the fans in Tokyo as well as the experts in Turkey.

Committing double-digit turnovers inside five minutes of a pivotal game against Brazil is the least expected of a FIBA Zone champion. The brutal reality is that the Japanese players have nobody to blame except themselves.

China's coach Tom Maher probably put a lot of things in perspective to explain the above results and analyses.

"We have to play more European teams and more often in Europe," the Australian said, talking about his China team, but I strongly believe that this applies to all of Asian teams.

"There is something called basketball sense that cannot be achieved by just playing games within ourselves or in training camps.

"This sense comes only with experience and gets better only with more experience."

China's young guards Yang Liwei and Li Meng, probably two of the most effervescent players seen in Istanbul agreed with their coach.

"We came in with a lot of confidence to give our best. We are giving our best as well. But we feel at times our best is not good enough. We can learn only with experience," said Yang Liwei, the most conspicuous teenager at Turkey 2014 said.

"We try to do what our coaches tell us. But there are situations we just can't do what the coaches ask us to do. That gap can be filled only by playing more and playing more against better teams," said Li Meng, the MVP of the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship for Women.

Playing on a stage as big as the FIBA World Championship for Women is an overwhelming experience by itself for these youngsters.

"Yes. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't perform better. Look at it like this: this is the highest level of the game. If we play well here, we don't have to prove anything to anybody elsewhere," reasoned Li Meng.

"The stage (of the World Championship for Women) can overwhelm you. But we need to be prepared to meet those challenges. Only then can we call ourselves deserving to be playing for the national team," Yang Liwei added.

It's probably this type of attitude that inspires Maher to confidently declare: "I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's dark right now. But when we cross this darkness I can certainly see light."

My quick thought at this stage: is it time for some of Asia's top players to start hunting for jobs in European clubs? Because playing within their own country is certainly not helping them much to move to the next level. Anybody listening?

So long…

S Mageshwaran

FIBA Asia

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