FIBA Asia – The WABA-Gulf hegemony continues…

JAKARTA (FIBA Asia Champions Cup) - The WABA-Gulf hegemony on the FIBA Asia Champions Cup continued for the 11th year in a row with all the three West Asian teams in fray along with Al Arabi of Qatar making the semifinal grade at the 20th FIBA Asia Champions Cup on Sunday.

In the last one decade – starting with Lebanese Al Hikmeh-Sagesse’s back-to-back triumphs in 1999-200 – the Champions Cup has been won only by a team from either WABA or the Gulf sub zone, and this year won’t be any different.

Tuesday’s semifinals – after Monday’s rest day – will feature WABA champions Mahram taking on Lebanese league winners Al Riyadi Beirut, in a repeat of their clash in the last four at the WABA qualifiers in Amman (Jordan) in March. Mahram had won that clash 69-56.

Mahram had also beaten Riyadi in the Group A preliminary round here but then the Lebanese were playing that game without four of their regular starters. Riyadi have won the only other clash between the two WABA giants – a 91-83 win in the preliminary round of the WABA qualifiers.

In the semifinal that follows, last year’s GCC winners Al Arabi of Qatar will match wits with Jordanian league champions Zain, who in their former nomenclature as Fastilink, had won the Champions Cup at the 2006 edition in Kuwait.

Mahram began Sunday’s quarterfinal proceedings proving too mighty for Indian combination Young Cagers 97-73.

Riyadi, powered by Fadi El Khatib’s return, posted a 86-69 win over hosts Satria Muda.

In the other quarterfinals, Zain came up with a commanding performance to down Korean Army outfit Sangmoo 89-70 and Smart Gilas threatened to break the monopoly before falling to Al Arabi of Qatar 71-76.

El Khatib’s return to court, and the resultant rise of Riyadi fortunes, was the cynosure of all eyes and might hold the key to the championship itself.

The Lebanese side raced away 27-18 in the first quarter, with El Khatib scoring 14 points.

Satria cut the lead down to 41-39 when they went into the changing rooms, and Riyadi hit back with their defense for the rest of the game.

Miller, who had led Satria’s scoring in the first half with 17 points had only five points in the fourth quarter, in his game high 22 points; and collected eight of his game-high 12 rebounds in the first half.

Riyadi forced seven turnovers, collected 18 rebounds – 10 in defense to curtail Satria’s scoring rate in the third quarter.

El Khatib, meanwhile, had regained his bearings; Nate Johnson, who had scored only two points in the second quarter to add to his eight in the first came into his own; and Riyadi didn’t have to bother too much in the final quarter.

El Khatib returned a game-high 30 points, with a 16/19 in field, including a three out of four in three-pointers.

Nate Johnson scored 10 points in each half as fellow American Chris Charles returned a double-double. Charles collected five boards in each of the third and fourth quarter, in his game-high 11 rebounds to go with his 12 points.

“I think the team came together well in defense in the third quarter,” said Abouchakra.

“We allowed them to keep close in the first half. We began to defend really well in the third quarter depriving them the space. We also began to guard the base-line well,” he added.

Satria Muda coach Fictor Roring said: “We did try our best. Just that it was not good enough.”

Satria take on Young Cagers in the 5-8 play-offs on Monday.

Young Cagers – virtually the National Team, playing in the Champions Cup as a part of the preparations for the 25th FIBA Asia Championship to be held in China later this year – were outsized 188.5 cms to 195.42 cms in average height. That difference in size reflected on the proceedings on the court as well as the score-line.

Jackson Vroman, going into the game with a 27.25 PPG average, scored his first field goal only midway through the second quarter – a sizzling 3-pointer that took Mahram 44-20 ahead.

But the former New Orleans Hornets player had caused enough damage to the rivals’ morale before that, earning fouls repeatedly and converting the ensuing free throws.

Vroman played only the first and the fourth quarter in full – on court only for 1:55 early in the second – yet led the scoring for the team with 22 points.

“It’s another step towards achieving the target of what we came for here,” Mahram assistant coach Ali Arezoomandi said.

Young Cagers’ Jagdeep Singh led the scoring for the game with 24 points, with 61.5% (8/13) rate on the field.

“I’m happy that my boys gave their 100% against a very strong team,” said Young Cagers coach Aleksandar Bucan said.

Zaid Abbas, on loan from ASU, continued to remain in the ‘medical list’, but American center Roderick Riley and point guard Sam Daghles returned to the Zain starting line-up, despite yet to recover fully.

Riley led the Zain charge with a double-double. The former NBA D-League 28-year-old contributed 18 points, but more importantly collected 11 rebounds.

“I think the rebounds made a lot of difference,” Sangmoo coach Lee Hun Jae said.

Zain won the battle of boards by a whopping 54-26.

Daghles and seasoned campaigner Zaid Alkhas scored 13 points each as Zain coach Mario Palma gave all the available players at least 10 minutes each on the court.

“We began well and things fell in place early for us,” Palma said.

“And it was a good chance for us to rotate the players to keep them fresh for the semifinals,” the Portuguese added.

Kyong Suk No, who shared the game-high honors with Riley, converted six of 10 three-pointer attempts for his 18 points.

Sangmoo meet Smart Gilas on Tuesday in the 5-8 play-offs.

Smart Gilas sparkled with their speed and spirit, but against the size of Gulf powerhouse Al Arabi the Filipinos’ spirit came short.

Arabi, outscored 8-23 by Smart Gilas in the second quarter, began their resurrection towards the end of the third quarter. A 13-0 spree ensued that ran well past the midway mark of the fourth quarter, and Arabi held on for their maiden entry into the Champions Cup semifinals.

Arabi’s best finish yet in the Champions Cup is the seventh-place they achieved 25 years ago – at the 1984 edition at Kuala Lumpur.

Arabi began well and seemed headed to cruise when they closed the first ten minutes 21-12 ahead.

But Mark Barocca came into his own in the second quarter, scoring eight of his 16 points for the game after drawing a blank in the first quarter, to lead a Smart Gilas surge that saw the Filipinos go into the changing room 35-29 ahead.

After an equally sparred initial moments, Arabi seized control as Erfan Saeed and Ali and Ali beginning to combine well with their ‘imports’ Joshua Jones and Maurice Hargrow put the Qataris in sight of a semifinal place.

Saeed scored 13 of his game-high 20 points, Jones 10 of his 18 points, and Ali Ali 12 of his 17 in the second half.

Starting at 46-52 in the closing moments of the third quarter, Arabi went on to lead 59-52 with 5:40 left in the game, before CJ Giles’ twin free-throws ended the barren run for Smart Gilas.

“I think we came well together in the second half,” said Al Arabi coach David Ingham.

“I guess we chose the wrong moment to play our worst game in the tournament,” rued Smart Gilas coach Toroman Rajkov.

Scores

QUARTERFINALS

Mahram 97 (Jackson Vroman 22, Samad Nikkah 16, Hamed Afagh 14) bt Young Cagers 73 (Jagdeep Singh 24, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 16, Trideep Rai 10). Quarterwise Scores: 31-13, 50-24, 78-50.

Zain 89 (Roderick Riley 18, Sam Daghles 13, Zaid Alkhas 13, Ontario Lett 11, Mousa Awadi 10) bt Sangmoo 70 (Kyong Suk No 18, Beom Chai Park 11, Byung Kook Chung 11). Quarterwise Scores: 22-13, 41-32, 65-44.

Al Riyadi Beirut 86 (Fadi El Khatib 30, Nate Johnson 20, Chris Charles 12, Ali Fakhreddine 10) bt Satria Muda 69 (Rashad Powell 22, Nakiea Miller 22, Rony Gunawan 10). Quarterwise Scores: 27-18, 41-39, 63-46.

Al Arabi 76 (Erfan Saeed 20, Joshua Jones 18, Ali Ali 17, Maurice Hargrow 16) bt Smart Gilas 71 (CJ Giles 20, Mark Barocca 16, Dylan Ababou 12).

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia