MANAMA (Bahrain) & DOHA (Qatar) - We’ve reached a conclusion from both the Bahrain and Qatar bubbles and it should be safe to say that the Asia Cup fans were properly entertained. Each of the teams packed along some of their best talents and those players made sure to show why they were chosen to represent their respective countries on the court.

We’re sure that this list could be much longer, but let’s limit it at just 5 of the top performers from the past few days for now. Did your favorite player make the cut?

Statistics are averaged over games played in the bubbles.

Wael Arakji (LBN)

22.5 points per game
57.7 field goal percentage
66.6 three-point shooting percentage
100 percent free-throw percentage

It feels a bit as if we’ve gotten too used to seeing Wael Arakji play at a high-level. With Sergio El Darwich and Ater Majok serving up most of the highlights for Lebanon in this window, it was easy to overlook Arakji’s performance as just another couple of games for the star guard.

Scoring over 20 points in both games is surely noteworthy, but what was more impressive was how absurdly efficient Arakji was in making those shots.

Arakji makes everything look so somple when he is on the court. In turn, that made it look like Lebanon’s accomplishment of qualifying for the Asia Cup 2021 was easy as well as well. However, when you look up and down at the quality of the teams Arakji and Lebanon had to face in Group D, “easy” was far from reality.

Mohamed Kawaid (BRN)

15.5 points per game
7.0 rebounds per game
5.5 rebounds per game

For fans than have been following Bahrain through the Asia Cup Pre-Qualifiers, seeing Kawaid’s name here should not be a surprise. He was one of the best player through the Pre-Qualifiers and showed here that he hasn’t missed a beat.

Kawaid had to miss Window 1 to recover from an injury, but he didn’t waste any time to ease back in to his role as a swiss army knife for Bahrain. The 31-year-old can - and will - do everything on the court for his team to secure a win and he’s a big reason why Bahrain have been able to lock up a ticket to Asia Cup 2021.

Whether it was his smooth moves to get to the basket or pinpoint passing, Kawaid made sure to remind everyone that he’s still one of the best players Bahrain has to offer.

(We deserve that Muzamil Hamoda also deserves a mention here with his senior teammate. The 18-year-old has proven that his performance in Window 1 was not a fluke. He’s increased his averages during this window to 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game as well as one mandatory poster slam.)

George "Trey" Kell III (SYR)

34.5 points per game
7.0 rebounds per game
5.0 assists per game

George “Trey” Kell III flew under the radar as a player who was making his debut in these past few games. He made sure that everyone would know his name by the end of his first two games.

Kell had already turned some heads with a 35-point, 6-rebound, 6-assist debut. However, it was overlooked as Syria failed to beat Qatar.

It wasn’t until the following game that the spotlight could focus entirely on Kell, as Syria pulled off what might be the upset of the Asia Cup Qualifiers so far by beating Iran. Team Melli simply had no answer for Kell who sliced up the defense for 34 points on 13-14 shooting from the free-throw line. What began as an unpleasant debut to his national team career turned into a heroic performance that will make Asia Cup fans remember the name of George Kell III.

Juan Gomez De Liaño (PHI)

13.0 points per game
7-14 three-point shooting
3.5 assists per game

For the Philippines, Dwight Ramos stole the show in their first game against Thailand while Javi Gomez De Liaño was the main headliner of the rematch. In both games, it was the younger Juan Gomez De Liaño that made big shots and big plays to get the momentum swinging the Philippines’ way.

Juan dazzled the fans and dazed the defense with his dribbling, but when it was time to stick in the dagger shots, he was able to do that too. Thailand found that out the hard way when they were bombarded by De Liaño’s timely three-pointers.

The 21-year-old has a bright future ahead of him and it seems like we’re just only scratching the surface of his potential.

Mohammed Alsuwailem (KSA)

13.5 points per game
11.0 rebounds per game
3.0 blocks per game
63.2 field goal shooting percentage

Khalid Abdel Gabar has been the one hitting big shots for Saudi Arabia through the Qualifiers, but Alsuwailem has been the towering presence that has helped keep opposing offenses wary in the paint.

Saudi were impressive in these past two games, pushing Iran to the limit and calmly taking down Qatar in overtime. It would have been much more difficult if not for the play of Alsuwailem. The young big man had an impact on both sides of the floor, whether it was throwing down thunderous dunks or swatting away weak shot attempts.

The “Mean Green Machine” still need to do a bit more to punch their tickets to Asia Cup 2021. With Alsuwailem roaming the paint, the odds of that happening seems to be good.

Who do you think was the best player during the Qatar and Bahrain bubbles?

FIBA