FIBA Asia – China looming, upsets threaten after Quarter-Finals

WUHAN (FIBA Asia Championship) - Four teams remain on the quest to make it out of the FIBA Asia Championship and directly to the London Olympic Games.

China are now firm favourites for the gold medal. After a tough struggle in the first half, they strangled Lebanon with their halfcourt defence and then ran away with a 68-48 victory.

Liu Wei (13 points, 6/7 shooting), Yi Jianlian (12 points, 9 rebounds) and Wang Zhizhi (12 points) led a balanced Chinese attack, who played with the patience that has become their trademark in this tournament.

Sam Hoskin was a standout for Lebanon with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

China head coach Bob Donewald was once again pleased with how his team went about the win.

“You’ve got to give Lebanon credit they tested us early,” he said, before adding his disappointment in his team’s rebounding effort in the first half.

“That’s something we addressed at half time. We weren’t as quick to the ball as we needed to be, and we gave up more offensive rebounds than we normally would. We’ve just got to do a better job,” he said.

Donewald was also pleased to be able to rest some of his stars for the gruelling games ahead once the margin blew out.

“In the second half we started subbing a bit earlier, getting our minutes down so we’re fresh for the next two (games).”

The reason China are now clear gold medal favourites is Jordan produced the upset of the tournament, hanging tough for 40 minutes before sneaking away to an unforgettable 88-84 victory over defending champions Iran.

Sam Daghles was superb with 23 points and impeccable leadership, and Tab Baldwin praised his entire team after the game, highlighting the struggles they had faced over the first six days.

“I am so proud of the guys. We have had a tournament of ups and downs, and I don’t think we’ve come together as a team like any of us would have liked,” he said, but the players executed the game plan to perfection against Iran.

“We knew Iran was a great defensive team, but we knew they very much like to keep Hadadi close to the basket, and their guards are great defensive players and they force you to attack (Hamed) Hadadi.

“We didn’t want to do that, we were determined to make the most of him sitting around the basket, and our big guys hit enough shots, Alkhas and Abbas, to make the most of that.

"When you look at the stats and we had 28 points in the paint, and you wouldn’t expect to get that against Iran,” a delighted Baldwin added.

Jordan’s performance showed the race to London is still wide open. With two FIBA Olympic Qualifying berths also on offer, the competition will be fierce on Semi-Final day.

Jordan meet the Philippines in the first Semi-Final at 15:30 local time (09:30 CET/07:30 GMT) after they overran Chinese Taipei 95-78.

The Smart Gilas trailed by eight in the second quarter but proved far too good the rest of the way.

Marcus Douthit produced his best performance yet with 37 points and 10 rebounds, while role player Ranidel De Ocampo produced an inspired performance with 18 points and five rebounds.

De Ocampo is looking forward to the challenge.

“Jordan is a big team also. They have played at the FIBA World Championship and they have great players. It will be hard to match up with them,” he said.

“We will just have to do the same thing (as against Taipei) and stay focused.”

Korea have the unenviable task of trying to beat China in front of their raucous fans at 20:00, but Moon Taejong believes his team can do it.

“Obviously we’re trying to get a ticket to the London Olympics, so we’re aiming for first place," he said.

“We know it will be tough to do against China on their home court but that’s what we’re aiming for.

“I think if we control the boards against them we will be alright.”

Korea earned their Semi-Final place by comprehensively beating Japan 86-67.

Moon led five players in double figures with 17 points. Only Kosuke Takeuchi (16 points, 13 rebounds) made any real inroads for Japan, who sorely missed his twin brother Joji who injured his ribs against China two nights earlier and could only manage 10 minutes in the Quarter-Final.

Both Semi-Finals can be watched live on FIBATV to see who will progress to the London Olympics.

After Jordan’s performance against Iran, who knows what will happen on the final two days of the FIBA Asia Championship?

Paulo Kennedy

FIBA