Maturity that defied their age!

KUALA LUMPUR (Mageshwaran's AsiaScope) - China's youngsters produced two days of fantastic basketball last weekend which took them to the top of the podium in the 3rd FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Women in Colombo, Sri Lanka that spoke for their maturity and ability to execute their coach's plans as much as a level of comprehension of the game that belied their age.

Going into the Final Round, certainly not as the favorites - a rarity in itself when it comes to age group teams from China - Xiong Ying strung together two games of tactically very high quality that left the rivals on those days - Korea and Japan in that order - bemused and baffled. And at the same time leaving the discerning rather pleasantly surprised.

"Does this happen normally?" asked FIBA Asia's technical expert Fadi Sabbah who was watching his first age group tournament in the girls section in a long time. "This level is very high for U16 women. I learned a lot," the affable Jordanian said. And Sabbah was merely voicing the thought of many of us regulars to FIBA Asia competitions.

Those two days of triumph coming out of training and tactics more than mere domination by size and strength surely would have kept the Chinese top brass relieved at the end of what has been a forgettable year in Chinese basketball.

When we talk about tactics, in FIBA Asia age group context, we are essentially talking about the team's ability to discipline themselves on defense without worrying or caring too much for the deficit on the scoreboard.

Where, of course, the tendency to go on the offensive right from the word go has been a welcome sign of enthusiasm and energy in case of FIBA Asia teams, especially in the girls section, China's youngsters showed the level of responsibility and reliability to hang in there just sticking to the basics of defense.

That only two players went on to score in the double-digits in both the Semi-Final against Korea and the Gold Medal Game against Japan did reflect China's ability to withhold themselves without having to waste too much energy.

"We have to keep reminding them of the need to play defense," said Xiong Ying sighing in relief at the end of the championship.

"We think that young players in our team have a lot of potential. Unlike in the past there are no stars in this team. They are all very diligent players. Nothing more, nothing less.

"They all have excellent attitude in training and of course have very good individual skills. The key has been their hard work in defense," she added.

In a year when China made all the headlines but unlike in the past not for their dominance on the court, the performance of the U16 girls is a welcome sign of the potential available. Investing time and patience in them would certainly go a long way in taking China to a high position, and I do believe they deserve to be among the top, in international basketball.

Next week, we look at more interesting developments that happened during the year in FIBA Asia.

So long…

S Mageshwaran

FIBA Asia

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