Asia Cup Power Rankings, Volume 2: New team on top

JAKARTA (Indonesia) - The Group Phase of the FIBA Asia Cup 2022 is done. We're now down to twelve teams that are still in contention for the Asia Cup and it only gets more intense from here as one loss will send you packing.

We've took some time to update Volume 1 of the FIBA Asia Cup Power Rankings and there are definitely some movements, both up and down. Check out where your team stands in this Volume 2 update.

Ranking	Detail	Movement
16	The future should be bright for India, but we're ranking this now. After three big losses at Asia Cup 2022, this is what they will have to settle for at this point. Check back for an update in a few years.	➖ 1️⃣
15	It has been a wild couple of weeks for the Steppen Wolves. From beating Iran for a second straight game to losing to Bahrain in the World Cup Qualifiers to losing three straight games in Asia Cup 2022 including a defeat to Syria after being up by as much as 12 points? That's rough and you can only hope that they can bounce back from this.	➖ 5️⃣
14	Saudi Arabia put up a fight here in Jakarta, but it turns out that not having their star center was really too big of a void to fill in. The core is intact and relatively young, so there's a lot to look forward to see from Saudi Arabia. You just won't be seeing it here the Asia Cup 2022.	➖ 3️⃣
13	Moving down four spots here for Bahrain does look too good, but with the context of everything, it's not that bad. Bahrain were dealt three straight loses which started out with a big loss to Chinese Taipei, but they were able to rebound and display incredible effort against China and Korea. Losing to China by only one point was heartbreaking and it's something to keep an eye on heading into the future.	➖ 4️⃣
12	Losing to Japan by allowing 27 threes was definitely unexpected, but all things considered, Syria are satisfied with their accomplishment of getting through the Group Phase after an impressive comeback win over Kazakhstan. Syria have definitely shown heart here in Jakarta.	➕ 4️⃣
11	Chinese Taipei are 1-2 coming out of Group B in the Asia Cup but they've been solid. Among the other three teams in the group, they handled Bahrain the easiest Despite the losses to Korea and China, Chinese Taipei put up a fight until the very end. They have high-level talents in Will Artino, Lin Ting-Chien, Chen Ying-Chun, and Liu Cheng, which means they could be one of the most dangerous third-placed teams coming out of the Group Phase.	➕ 2️⃣
10	The hosts have been quite impressive from the start as well. They began with a massive win over Saudi Arabia and even though they lost to both Jordan and Australia, Indonesia really pushed their opponents in both games to break a sweat.	➕ 4️⃣
9	There are a lot of factors that have played into the slow start for the all-time leader in Asia Cup titles won, but the fact remains that they suffered their biggest lost to Korea in over 20 years, beat Bahrain by only one point on a last minute basket, and had to battle with Chinese Taipei down the wire. Obviously, everything should be better when the team is at to full strength especially Zhou Qi, but until then, this is where China will be placed for now.	➖ 4️⃣
8	The expectations for the Philippines were mild as they headed into Asia Cup 2022 with a young squad that was also suddenly without Dwight Ramos a few days prior to tip-off. Taking that into consideration, Gilas are pretty much where we expected them to be. They handily beat India and while the team put up a fight against both Lebanon and New Zealand, suffered sizable losses. Now if they can pull off a win against Japan to seal a Quarter-Finals berth, that would definitely guarantee a move up in these Rankings.	0
7	There's nothing wrong with ending the Group Phase with a 2-1 record and Jordan have been solid from the start. They were especially impressive in their opening game against Australia as well, but this very slight dip in the ranking is more about how well the other teams have done relatively. Considering how well Ahmad Al Dwairi has looked, putting Jordan at 7th might look bad in a couple of days, but that's something to live with for this update.	➖ 1️⃣
6	Bumping Japan up a spot after a loss to Iran might look weird, but it should make sense looking at the bigger picture. Japan have been shooting the lights out, especially in their record breaking game of 27 made three-pointers against Syria, and if they didn't go cold for a few minutes against Iran, they might have come out undefeated. Alas, Iran were just too big and efficient so Japan will have to go through the Philippines instead to reach the Quarter-Finals.	➕ 1️⃣
5	Losing to Lebanon was certainly not desirable for the Tall Blacks, but the've done a solid job for a young squad to rebound and beat the Philippines. The road through the Asia Cup does not get any easier however and if New Zealand want to make it back to the Semi-Finals and earn their first podium finish, they need to keep on improving through each game as they've been doing so far.	➖ 2️⃣
4	Was it an overreaction to place Iran way down at 12th in the previous update? Maybe, but that's what two recent losses to Kazakhstan will do for you and that's how quickly the world of basketball can take a turn. Now after three games, Iran have handily dealt confident wins over opponents that have given them trouble recently. As a result, fans are being reminded why they have the most Asia Cup titles in the past 15 years.	➕ 8️⃣
3	There are few teams that have looked as confident as Korea have in Asia Cup 2022. They quickly got the tough tasks of their shoulders by handily beating China in the opening match and haven't had much trouble since. They've also been able to keep their stars relatively well-rested, which could play a factor in a tournament of this structure. It was understandable why Bahrain were able to stay close with Korea in their last game, but that also made it tough to place them a bit higher as well.	➕ 1️⃣
2	Okay, okay. Australia are still the undefeated defending Asia Cup champions who have yet to win a game by less than 16 points. Nothing has changed and they are still looking impressive, especially they way they responded to the crowd at Istora Senayan. Still, this is pretty much what we've expected from Australia. Don't look at it as punishing Australia for playing well...	➖ 1️⃣
1	... look at it as taking the opportunity to acknowledge just how good Lebanon have been. The Cedars were obviously heading into Asia Cup high on confidence from their World Cup Qualifiers win and that confidence has not dropped, especially after a historical double-digit win over New Zealand. Lebanon are undefeated, their star (Wael Arakji) is well rested, and they are playing confident basketball. That's as good of a position you would want to be heading into the next stage.	➕ 1️⃣

*The power rankings are entirely subjective based on recent events/results/announcements and is in no way a true, accurate ranking systems. All comments are purely those of the author.

**These power rankings were made taking in consideration of the results from the Group Phase of Asia Cup 2022.

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