FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2018 Quarter Finals Preview

NONTHABURI (FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2018) - After the  Qualifications to Quarter Finals in Day 4 of the FIBA U18 Asian Championship, the Quarter Finals matchups of the tournament are set and ready to proceed towards the eventual championship game!

Every team that has made it this far has a solid claim to win the title, so don’t expect anyone to back down or give in.

This is it! This is the Quarter Finals of the FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2018! 

IRAN (IRI) vs NEW ZEALAND (NZL)

 
The defending champions have yet to bear any real sign of weakness in this tournament. Iran might have not be a three-point shooting machine like most of the other contenders (15.7 attempts per game on 25.5% shooting) but they’ve been able to get by with great passing and off the ball movement. They are among the lowest scoring teams in the Quarterfinals (79.0 PPG) but have been devastating on defense. Iran doesn’t have any player taller than 6’9” in their line up, yet they block 7.0 shot attempts per game, good enough for second in the tournament.

That will spell trouble for New Zealand who have had trouble finishing consistently around the rim. Instead, New Zealand might have to do it from behind the arc where they have the third most amount of made threes per game (9.0 threes made per game) on 31.3% shooting.

PHILIPPINES (PHI) vs BAHRAIN (BRN)

 
It was most likely that the Philippines were scouting Chinese Taipei as their potential Quarter Finals opponent, but they had to throw those scouting reports in the trash can after Bahrain pulled off an upset.

The Philippines holds a clear advantage in size with the “Manila Skyline” towers, Kai Sotto and AJ Edu. They are the third best team in blocks (6.3 per game) and 4^th in rebounds (39.3 per game) and don’t expect them to slack going up against Bahrain.

Bahrain have made an improbable run to the Quarter Finals off the intense scoring of their scorers, Mustafa Rashed (17.5 PPG) and Baqer Ali (10.8 PPG), and will have to bank on those two again. They haven’t displayed much pressing defense in the past 4 games, but might want to focus on that area especially as they go up against the Philippines who averaged the 4^th most turnovers in the tournament. Bahrain has to attack the Philippines offense early in the set to avoid facing Edu/Sotto down low.

AUSTRALIA (AUS) vs JAPAN (JPN)

 
Japan’s journey through the FIBA U18 Asian Championship has not been the easiest among all teams. They were placed in the same group as the defending champions Iran and will now have to go up against strong newcomers, Australia.

Australia has made easy work of their opponents in the Qualifying Phase, winning by an average of 63.0 points and leading by no less than 20 points at halftime of each game. Coach Darren Perry has been able to balance the minutes among his roster quite evenly, assuring that he has fresh bodies as they progress.

Japan (6’1” average) will be giving up quite a lot of height to Australia (6’6” average height), but they can try to overcome that with their quick-paced game getting into the opencourt. Yuki Kawamura (4.8 assist-to-turnover ratio) has done a masterful job running Japan’s offense and controlling the tempo to negate the height disadvantage they face against opposing team.

Still, Japan struggled to get their offense going against Iran (6’5” average height) that also uses their height especially on defense. Australia are even taller and maybe even a tad bit quicker, so it will once again be a tall task (pun intended) for Coach Yuji Yoshida and his squad to overcome.

KOREA (KOR) vs CHINA (CHN)

 
China will be an interesting matchup for Korea considering Korea’s opponents in the Qualifying Phase. Korea demolished a tall and long India team by precise and quick ball movement, but struggled a bit more against Chinese Taipei who constantly pressured the Korean offense for the entire game. China is somewhat a mix of both with good size but also great speed and defense.

Korea had trouble handling Jonah Morrison and it’s going to be interesting how they deal with Wang Quanze who is taller and a more agile. Not to mention the mismatch problems that Guo Haowen presents with his all-around bag of skills and athleticism.

It won’t be an easier for China matching up against Korea either after they were exposed in their game against the Philippines. Foul trouble against the Philippines displayed that China’s rotation struggle when Quanze or Haowen have to sit. Korea’s speedy ball movement and first step burst are going to keep defenders on their toes and if China starts packing up fouls, they will struggle. Korea are second in the tournament in Free Throw attempts (27.7 per game) and in free throw percentage (72.3%) so China can’t afford a repeat in what happened to them in the last game of the Group phase. 

 FIBA