Gameday 1 Key Takeaways: Sensational fans and dazzling debuts

BEIRUT (Lebanon) - Through all of the action of these opening 12 games, there are always a few things to look a bit more into detail and learn from before we head into the next set of game.

 

 

Here are some key takeaways from Gameday 1!

Everyone needs some time to warm up

We get it. This is the first major FIBA competition of 2024 for the national teams. There was bound to be some rust to shake off for each of the teams.

It took Olympic-bound Japan nearly three quarters to shake off Guam.

World Cup teams like

Australia, trailed Korea until midway through the fourth quarter and by as much as 14 points New Zealand, only broke open the lead against Chinese Taipei towards the end of the third quarter Philippines, led Hong Kong, China by only 4 points at half-time Iran, gave up early 13-point lead to trail by 7 in fourth quarter before winning game in overtime to Qatar Lebanon, led by as much as 25 points before Syria came back to within single digits [/unordered]

all had to overcome early struggles to get their wins. This might have been the grand opportunity for the underdogs to spring an upset (so close, Korea and Qatar), but in the end, these projected top teams emerged - well - on top.

But it also shows how competitive these games can be and that anyone has a chance to win in their Qualifiers.

They grow up so fast

The superstars are the superstars. There have been plenty of highlights of Nick Kay or Wael Arakji or Ra GunA throughout the years for fans to devour.

In this window of the Asia Cup Qualifiers, it was also refreshing to see the next projected wave of youngsters play for the national team.

Whether it was Yuto Kawashima, Yang Hansen, Rocco Zikarsky, Hamad Mousa, Mohammad Hashim Abbasher, and Mohamed Ndao who had all recently played in U16 or U18 Asia Cups, they proved themselves worthy of a spot on the floor from their programs speaks volumes of how bright the future is for Asia Cup basketball.

Keep an eye out for Karim Rtail who could still see the court for Lebanon, too!

(Mohammad Amini has already led Iran in scoring at the World Cup, so we're just skimming over the fact that he's playing here in Window 1.)

Home is where the hearts are

Return of the Continental Cup Qualifiers meant the return of home crowds all across the region. And the fans did not disappoint.

While we're more than familiar with the passion of the fans in Japan (from recent experience at the World Cup) and Syria (from recent experience at the FIBA OPQT and WASL - West Asia), it was also nice to see fans pack the stands in countries that had not hosted a senior men's national team game in such a long time.

One of those countries is Thailand, which saw the Nimibutr stadium fill in over 3000 seats as they enjoyed a win over Indonesia.

We're going to move over to ten other venues for the second Gameday of Window 1, so let's see which crowds will show up to support their teams.

Records are meant to be broken

Okay, so we didn't see any record broken just yet. But Josh Harrellson came close!

His 21 rebounds is only the second 20+ rebound game in Continental Cup Qualifiers history even it was a bit short of the most ever (Palestine's Sani Sakakini set the bar high at 24). This is only Gameday 1 though, which means there will be many more opportunities for the talented players across the squads to set statistical highs across the board.

Over in AfroBasket, Libya's Mohamed Sadi record a triple-double (and near quadruple-double) in an upset victory. There will be more records broken at some point.

Stay tuned.

Welcome to FIBA basketball!

Speaking of Josh Harrellson… here's a warm welcome! He made quite an impression in his debut with a monster double-double of 12 points and 21 boards.

Then you have Javion Blake's big 28 points in spirited effort in his debut with Syria. His teammate Mohamad Bilal Atli also suited up for the national team for the first time, recording a solid 15 points and 7 rebounds.

There's also the young guns like Yang Hansen who made his first appearance and impressed with 13 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals.

All in all, the key takeaway here is that there is still plenty of talent waiting for their opportunities in Asia. And that's why we keep on looking forward to these games where they make their debuts.

FIBA