SWOT Analysis for BCL Asia Qualifiers Round 2 Teams

BEIRUT (Lebanon) - Now that we've gone through the Basketball Champions League Asia (BCL Asia) Qualifiers Round 1, we're only one more step away from confirming two spots at the BCL Asia.

Those spots will be claimed by two of the four clubs who made their way through Round 1 and will be competing in Round 2 in Jakarta, Indonesia from April 23-26. Here, we take a look at these four teams once again before they enter the arena for another bout.

 Hong Kong Eastern Basketball Team

How they got here: Hong Kong Eastern claimed their second-ever HKA1 title and first in six years earlier in February to earn their spot in the Qualifiers.

Eastern headed into Round 1 without some key players, leading to them being a bit underestimated. This proved to be a bad idea for their opponents as they came out of the gates with two straight wins over NS Matrix Deers and Prawira Harum Bandung. They would eventually lose their last game to home team Bishrelt Metal in Ulaanbaatar, but only after having already clinched a spot in Round 2.

SWOT Analysis

Strength: This was arguably the best defensive team in Round 1 of the Qualifiers. Whether it was because of the paint prowess of Chris McLaughlin (led all players in blocks per game and was one of two players to average double-digit rebounds), the physicality of Dominic Gilbert (2.0 steals per game), or the just the pure length of Yuet Yueng Pok, it was difficult to score on Eastern.

They lead all teams in allowed field-goal percentage (38.7 percent), rebounds per game (49.0), and allowed second-least amount of field-goal attempts (18.0) as well. Defense has won them championships in the past and it's certainly helping their cause here.

Weakness: Eastern kind of needed to be very good on defense, however, as their offense left a lot to be desired. Among the teams that didn't finish last in their Round 1 groups, Eastern had the lowest field-goal percentage (41.3 percent). They were also dead last in three-point shooting at 27.9 percent and only 5.7 made threes per game - no other team made less than 7 per contest.

Opportunity: The competition has now progressed to Round 2, a step closer to the BCL Asia proper. This means an elevated sense of competitiveness and intensity. Defense will matter a lot more at this point and Eastern have proven to be the best in the playing field on that end right now.

Moreover, they've proven that their game-plan works against two of the three opponents that they will be facing in Round 2 - as they had already beaten the Deers and Prawira in Round 1.

Threat: Eastern did have to show their cards a bit in Round 1, though, which might make life a bit more difficult in rematches, especially against Prawira who will have the benefit of being the home team. They won that first game by only 5 points. Will Prawira have already made the right adjustments and will being in Jakarta give the Indonesia champions a boost in what should be a very important game?

 NS Matrix Deers

How they got here: Dramatically.

The Deers might have clinched their second straight Major Basketball League (MBL) Malaysia title by sweeping the Playoffs and at the top of the regular season standings, but it was a different story in Round 1.

Both of their losses in the Group Phase of Round 1 were tough, as they fell apart in in the second half, leaving their fate to be decided in the Qualification to Round 2 game against a Hi-Tech Basketball Club that were the best offensive team of the competition.

In that decisive game, they commanded an 18-point heading into the fourth quarter - and nearly squandered the entire cushion in the final seconds of the game. The keyword there is "nearly" as the Deers emerged victorious anyways and booked a ticket to Jakarta for Round 2.

SWOT Analysis

Strength: The Deers have a tendency to close out fast on the perimeter and gamble a bit. This works in the sense that they lead all teams in steals (11.0 per game) and allowed the lowest three-point shooting percentage (26.6 percent). This left Eastern shooting less than 10 percent from beyond the arc and Hi-Tech shooting less than 20 percent from downtown.

This allowed them to play a bit more uptempo (second among all teams in fast break points and third in points off turnovers), which fits their personnel - especially Taishaun Johnson who led all players in steals and assists while also being Top 5 in points.

Weakness: Their blitzing style of play can backfire. Closing out aggressively leads to fouls (second most among all teams at 22.8 per game) and opponent free-throw attempts (second most allowed along all teams at 18.3 per game) as well as making it easier for opponent to score inside the arc (second highest allowed 2-point field goal percentage at 55.2 percent).

So far, it was a gamble that worked for the Deers in Round 1, but Round 2 could be a different story.

Opportunity: Among the teams playing in Round 2, NS Matrix are the only team that are playing with foreign players that have had less time playing with their respective teams. Johnson and Damion Rosser are new to the team and even Jordan Tolbert has spent most of his time playing against the Deers in the past basketball seasons.

It was clear that the team needed some time to come together, which they eventually did after four competitive games. With that experience, as well as more time to practice together leading up to Round 2, NS Matrix might end up having the most gap between potential and what they've already put on display between all the other clubs.

Threat: How closer are they from Round 1 to getting into their ideal competition mode though? NX Matrix's league play ended in January. Eastern's season ended in late February, while both Indonesian clubs are actually in the middle of the season. It might not seem like a big deal after having played Round 1 together have practicing in between, but there's still a gap between the Deers and the other teams - and even the slightest margin can be the difference in situations like these.

 Pelita Jaya Basketball

How they got here: Domination.

Pelita Jaya were the Finalist of the previous Indonesia Basketball League (IBL) season, earning them a spot in Round 1… which they rolled right through as the only undefeated team of the BCL Asia Qualifiers so far. The Mongolian champions Ulaanbaatar Xac Broncos gave them a fight with the boost of the home team, but in the two other Round 1 games - Pelita Jaya were behind in only 17 total seconds.

They allowed the least amount of points (76.0 per game) while also scoring 90.0 points per game (4th among all teams) at an efficient rate (48.2 percent field-goal shooting). Tough to beat that - which is why no one has yet.

SWOT Analysis

Strength: Pelita Jaya were viewed as one of the better teams on paper heading into the BCL Asia Qualifiers. And they've proven to be such, or at least either the most balanced among the top among all teams. They are the only team with two players among the Top 6 in average EFF and 5 players among the Top 30.

To make that easier to digest, Pelita Jaya can pretty much expect either Justin Brownlee and/or Jaquori McLaughlin to dominate a game as well as have a combination of good games from Reza Guntara, Brandon Jawato, and Andakara Prastawa Dhyaksa. No surprise, they are second in bench points with 33.7 per game.

They also handle the ball very well, allowing only 11.3 turnovers per game - least among all teams.

Again, tough to beat - which is why no one has yet.

Weakness: We're looking at things to nitpick at this point for an undefeated team. There's a reason they haven't lost yet. But if only looking at the numbers, Pelita Jaya are tied with grabbing the least amount of offensive rebounds per game (9.3) in Round 1. Of course, they were also one of the most efficient teams on offense as well, so there were not so many offensive rebounding opportunities to go around either.

Opportunity: While there are two Indonesian clubs in Round 2, Pelita Jaya can be considered the "true" home team here as they are officially based in Jakarta. This doesn't mean that the Prawira Bandung fans won't make the effort to make it to Jakarta, but it does give the heavy favorites another advantage.

Threat: We've hyped up the fact that Pelita Jaya are undefeated a bit intensely above, but don't forget that they are the only team from Group B that made it to Round 2. This is not to downplay PJ's wins as less impressive in any way, but there's always a chance that big wins leave powerhouse teams in a complacent mode.

With only three games left to claim one of the two BCL Asia spots, even one mistake that could lead to one loss could potentially spell disaster for a team like Pelita Jaya, no matter how strong they look right now.

 Prawira Harum Bandung

How they got here: The path to Round 2 wasn't as dominant for Prawira Bandung as it was for their IBL rivals mentioned above, but the reigning IBL champions were still very solid.

They finished their games strongly, even in the loss to Eastern, and especially against Ulaanbaatar Xac Broncos in a win that clinched them their spot in Jakarta.

SWOT Analysis

Strength: Having the best scorer of the competition on your team is always going to be helpful. Brandone Francis led Round 1 with 25.8 points per contest and the only player to reach 100 points so far. Prawira Bandung know exactly who to turn to if they need points in tight situations.

It also helps that they have been on fire from beyond the arc, too, as the only team shooting over 40 percent from the three-point line at 42.9 percent. It's also a good sign that there's distribution among those three-pointers made: Yudha Saputera led all players with 15 three-pointers, Hans Abraham made at least 2 per game, and Indra Muhamad can erupt as he did with 6 threes against NS Matrix.

Weakness: Is their inside offense an issue though? Prawira Bandung can make it rain, as they did when they made 11 threes on 52.4 percent. But even in a good three-point shooting game like that, they were unable to win because they shot only 37.7 percent from inside the arc.

Opportunity: Relatively, Prawira Bandung have the most intel on their opponents. They've already played against both Eastern and the Deers and they know Pelita Jaya very well as league rivals. Ideally, they should have the least amount of question marks on their scouting reports, which should be a good sign in the hands of a head coach like David Singleton who has won the IBL Coach of the Year award three seasons straight.

Threat: Prawira Harum Bandung stand out with their good three-point shooting, but is that enough of an identity to give them the edge? Again, only two teams are making it out of Jakarta to BCL Asia, so every small advantage counts.

Is Prawira Bandung's three-point shooting accuracy enough to overcome the defense of Eastern, perimeter pressure of the Deers, and the overall efficiency of Pelita Jaya?

FIBA