Japan loses to Qatar, finishes in 8th
place - Aug. 5, 2007 Well, so
much for J.R. Henderson's impact on the Japanese national team. Even with the
naturalized former NBA player, Japan ended up finishing in 8th place in the FIBA
Asia Championship-their worst showing ever-after losing on Sunday (8/5) to Qatar
86-82 in Tokushima.
Japan actually led at the end of the 1st half by a score of 38-34, but with J.R.
Sakuragi (Henderson's Japanese name) fouling out in the 4th quarter, Japan was
unable to hold onto the lead and ended up losing by 4 points. Sakuragi did have
11 points, but managed to get only 2 rebounds. Shooting guard
Takuya
Kawamura (191-G-86), who was exceptional in the tournament and was arguably
Japan's best player during the week, led Japan with 20 points on 6-for-10
shooting from 3-point range. The Takeuchi twins did their part to help Japan as
Joji had 14 points while his brother Kosuke had 6 points and 12 rebounds.
Japan must now deal with the disappointment of their 8th place finish after
coming into the tournament with such high hopes. Some things do look promising,
however, like the emergence of
Takuya
Kawamura and the addition of J.R. Sakuragi to the squad. Sakuragi played
hard and played well and will be looked upon to lead the Japanese national team
for years to come.
Iran, Behind Ehadadi, Defeats Lebanon
for Asian Title - Aug. 5, 2007 218
cm
Hamed Hadadi (Ehadadi) (218-C-85) scored 31 points on 14 of 18 shooting, and
grabbed 10 rebounds, to lead Iran to a 74-69 triumph over Lebanon. The victory
gave Iran the Asian championship and an invitation to the Olympics.
Lebanon will receive an invite to the Olympic qualifying tournament to be held
next year. China is already in the Olympics as the host nation which is why
China did not send its best players to contest for this title.
Mahammed Nikkha added 15 points and 6 rebounds for Iran. Rony Fahed scored 23
points for Lebanon, hitting 8 of 11 shots. Fadi El Khatib added 19 points but
only hit 5 of 14 attempts. Ehadadi limited Lebanon star Joseph Vogel to 13
points. Vogel hit only 3 of 13 shots, missing all 6 of his three-pointers. Vogel
grabbed 6 rebounds.
Former NBA-player Ha Seung Jin outplayed young Anton Ponomarev to lead Korea to
an 80-76 triumph over Kazakhstan. The win puts Korea into the Olympic qualifying
tournament to be held next year.
Ha had 25 points on 10 of 14 shooting before fouling out in 35 minutes. He also
grabbed 7 rebounds and made 2 steals. Ponomarev had 16 points on 6 of 16
shooting but only made 1 of 9 three-pointers. He grabbed 6 rebounds but fouled
out in 33 minutes.
Kim Joo-Sung scored 18 points for Korea and Rustam Yargaliyew added 14 points
for Kazakhstan.
Ehadadi scored 13.4 points and 9.6 rebounds in this tournament. With his youth
and inexperience, Ehadadi has a definite upside. He could be attractive to
top-level European teams. Ha Seung-Jin, with his NBA training, averaged 17.3
points and 9.1 rebounds. So Ehadadi outrebounded Ha. Ponomarev averaged 17.6
points and 7.1 rebounds, but is three years younger than Ehadadi and Ha. Vogel
averaged 17.4 points and 8.9 rebounds but turns 34 this month and is on the
downside of his career.
Jordan secured fifth place in the tournament with a 97-74 triumph over Chinese
Taipei behind 24 points, on 10 of 15 shooting, and 13 rebounds from Zaid Abbaas.
Qatar defeated Japan 86-82 to gain seventh place in the tourney. Yaseen Musa led
Qatar with 18 points and 9 rebounds while Saad Abdulrahman Ali had 13 points and
15 rebounds.
This tournament marked the first time that a West Asian team won the Asian
championship. Previous tournment winners were Eastern nations China, Korea and
the Philippines. West Asian teams finished first, second, fifth and seventh in
this tourney and consistently outplayed the East Asian countries for the first
time.
Of course the top Chinese players were not here. If China had sent the team that
finished second in the Stankovic Cup, it likely would have won this tournament
with a margin of victory similar to what it achieved in 2005, even without Yao
Ming. West Asia is rapidly improving in basketball but so is China. China has a
much larger population than all of West Asia combined, not to mention ethnic
characteristics that give it group advantages in quickness, jumping ability and
body control that offset group disadvantages in height and bulk.
Final Standings
1. Iran
2. Lebanon
3. Korea
4. Kazakhstan
5. Jordan
6. Chinese Taipei
7. Qatar
8. Japan
9. The Philippines
10. China
11. Syria
12. Indonesia
13. Hong Kong
14. Kuwait
15. India
16. United Arab Emirates
Sixth place finish for Taiwan in Asian
Championship - Aug. 5, 2007
Taiwan lost to Jordan 97-74 in its final game in the 2007 Asian Championship and
finished sixth place in the tournament. It's not a good result, but it's
Taiwan's best Asian Chamiponship finish since 2001.
In the championship game, Hamed Ehadadi had 31 points and 10 rebounds and led
Iran to a 74-69 victory over West Asia foe Lebanon. Iran won its first ever
Asian Championship title and a ticket to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Jordan, which broke open the game after 15 minutes, was led by Zaid Abbas' 24
points and 13 rebounds. Zaid Alkhas had 15 points. Enver Soobzokov added 14 and
Sam Daghlas had 12.
Chen Hsin-an had 13 points for Taiwan, which ranked 11th in 2003 and 9th in
2005. Lin Yi-huei had 12 points. Chen Shih-nian and Lee Chi-yi each scored 11
points while Wu Dai-hao had 10 points and 5 boards.
Taiwan was 3-5 in the tournament, head coach Chung Kwang-suk's first major
tournament with the team since taking over in May. It remained to be seen
whether the CTBA will keep Chung, an experienced Korea veteran, after the
tournament.
For the whole tournament, Taiwan has been short-handed due to injuries and
untimely suspensions. Tien Lei, Chen Chih-chun, Su Yi-chieh and Ho Sho-jen all
sat out because of various injuries. Starting center Tsun Wen-din was added to
the injured list after the Jones Cup.
Wu Dai-hao became the lone big man on the roster. Chung was forced to move Chen
Hsin-an to the power forward position and Lin Chih-jay as the small forward.
Feeling the pressure of the short tournament, Chung played his starters for
almost the entire game in most games and drew criticism back home from some
observers and press.
Still, Taiwan NT had its best finish since 2001, when it ranked 7th. Relatively
speaking, Chung successfully installed an inside-outside system and make Taiwan
more than a three-point shooting team. Wu and Lin, both of whom have been
ignored by former NT head coach Lee Yung-kwang, blossomed because of the change.
Taiwan's zone defense also saw improvement.
Which is why I think CTBA should keep Chung as the NT head coach. He got the
O.K. sixth place finish and improved the overall toughness and performance of
the team.
**Taiwan NT game-by-game (3W-5L):
Beat Syria, 90-66
Lost to Korea, 70-85
Beat Hong Kong, 98-81
Lost to Iran, 64-76
Lost to Lebanon, 64-95
Lost to Qatar, 74-87
Beat Japan, 85-80
Lost to Jordan, 74-97
**Results:
5/6 place: Jordan 97-74 Taiwan
7/8 place: Qatar 86-82 Japan
3/4 place: Korea 80-76 Kazakhstan
Championship: Iran 74-69 Lebanon
**Final placing: 1. Iran
2. Lebanon
3. Korea
4. Kazakhstan
5. Jordan
6. Taiwan
7. Qatar
8. Japan
9. Philippines
10. China
11. Syria
12. Indonesia
13. Hong Kong
14. Kuwait
15. India
16. UAE
(photo: fiba.com)
Taiwan to play for fifth after beating
Japan - Aug. 4, 2007
Chen
Hsin An (196-G/F-80) had 26 points and 9 rebounds and Wu Dai-hao had 22
points and 8 rebounds as Taiwan edged host Japan 85-80 Saturday and will meet
Jordan Sunday for the fifth place in the 2007 Asian Championship. Win or lose,
Taiwan is guaranteed to have its best finish in the tournament in the past six
years.
In fact, the game was for Taiwan to lose as the second leading scorer on the
team, Lin Chih-jay, was suspended for throwing a punch at Qatar's Daoud Daoud in
the previous game. Both were suspended for one game.
Starting center Tsun Wen-din was called for his 4th foul early in the second
period. He was replaced by Lee Chi-yi and never played since.
Taiwan, which trailed by two at halftime, changed the momentum of the game in
the third quarter and took the lead. A 27-of-33 performance on the free-throw
line helped Taiwan to put down Japan's furious rally in the last three minutes.
Head coach Chung Kwang-suk once again decided to let his starters finish off the
game.
Chen Hsin An, Wu Dai-hao, Lee Hsueh-lin and Yang Che-yi all played 40
minutes. Yang had 14 points in the game and Lee had 12.
Japan suffered another setback following a disappointing loss to Jordan. J.R.
Sakuragi and Tomoo Amino each scored 15 points. Veteran SG Takehimo Orimo added
14 while Joji Takeuchi had 11. Japan was outrebounded 33-24 and outscored 27-10
on the free-throw line.
Taiwan will meet Jordan, which beat Qatar 77-67 Saturday, tomorrow in the 5/6
place game. Japan has to play Qatar for the 7th place.
In the semifinals, Lebanon beat Korea 76-74 and Iran jumped on Kazakhstan early
for a 75-62 win. Lebanon will meet Iran in the championship game while
Kazakhstan will meet Korea for bronze on the final day of the tournament.
Wu tried to stop Sakuragi.
Daoud Daoud choked Lin Chih-jay.
Both Lin and Daoud were ejected and suspended for one game.
Game results:
9/10 place game: Philippines 78-76 China
11/12 place game: Syria 108-79 Indonesia
13/14 place game: Hong Kong 72-66 Kuwait
15/16 place game: India 82-77 UAE
Taiwan 85-80 Japan
Jordan 77-67 Qatar
Lebanon 76-74 Korea
Iran 75-62 Kazakhstan
(photo source: apple daily and fiba.com)
Did you hear this BFI? - Aug. 4, 2007 The
president of the Federation of International Basketball Association Bob
Elphinston has urged the basketball fraternity of India to wake quickly and
promote the game in India. He said the opportunity at the moment is endless and
the Basketball federation of India should make most of it.
In an interview with the official website of the 24th FIBA Asia Championship on
Saturday, Elphinston said the time is right for the BFI to launch the
professional league and it would help them no end to catch up with the rest of
the Asian countries.
“FIBA wants to see increased efforts from India. The country represents a
wonderful opportunity for basketball with a huge population and emerging living
style within the country. We know that the game is very popular, but we are yet
to see them delivering on the court,” he said.
India finished 15th in the continent's showpiece event which had 16 teams in the
fray. Elphinston also suggested that the better level of organisation across the
country would help turn things around. “I took a time out from my hectic
schedule and watched the Indians playing here. The World standard shows that
India is way behind. They now have an excellent coach in Alekander Bucan. The
Serbian will be a great influence, but the players need to be stronger and
conditioning levels should be higher and importantly we want to see the
professional league formed in India as early as possible which will improve the
quality provide a platform for the best players to compete against each other,”
said Elphinston.
Japan loses to Taiwan, headed for worst
showing since '93 - Aug. 4, 2007 Japan lost a
heartbreaker to Taiwan on Saturday (8/4) 85-80 in Tokushima at the FIBA Asia
Championship to send Japan to a 7th or 8th place finish, depending on the
outcome of their game on Sunday (8/5) against Qatar. Japan's worst ever finish
at the Asian Championships was a 7th place showing at the tournament in 1993, so
they are assured of at least tying that dubious record.
Japan's best player at the tournament so far, shooting guard Takuya Kawamura,
was cold against Taiwan (Chinese Taipei), managing only 3 points on 1-for-7
shooting from 3-point range. Swingman
Tomoo
Amino (195-F/G-80) has his best performance of the tournament by scoring 15
points on 5-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc while the always consistent
Takehiko Orimo had 14 points on 4-for-6 from 3-point range. J.R. Sakuragi had 15
points and 6 rebounds while Joji Takeuchi had 11 points for Japan, but it wasn't
enough as they couldn't stop Taiwan's Tai-Hao Wu and Hsin-An Chen who had 22
points and 26 points respectively.
Japan will now face Qatar tomorrow (8/5) and will have to win the game in order
to finish in 7th place. If they fail to win, they will finish in 8th place and
be faced with their worst showing ever at the Asian Championships.
China Loses to Philippines, Showing Its
Deficiencies in Development - Aug. 4, 2007 China lost
to the Philippines today 78-76 to finish 10th at the Asian Championships in
Tokushima, Japan.
Li Ke
(208-C-80) and Wu Qian each blew two free throws in the final minute to
contribute to the loss. China was 0-4 in its games against competitive Asian
teams in this tournament, including two losses to the Philippines.
But this is the second-best team that China can produce. Its best team,
excluding Yao Ming, finished second in the Stankovic Cup, is competitive with
top European teams, and could win a medal in next year's Olympics with the
benefit of the home court advantage.
This large disparity in ability between its best players and its next-best
players is more characteristic of a small country the size of Lithuania, not a
country with 1.3 billion inhabitants. It strongly indicates that China is making
very poor use of developing basketball players from its large population.
It speaks to the lack of competitive intensity in the CBA. Basketball used to be
primarily a recreational game in China, and too often the CBA lapses back into
the lack of intensity found in rec leagues.
China's junior players who are being groomed for competitive basketball must
play the game with physical intensity and spend time in the weight room building
their muscles. This includes players from high schools, whereas China gives too
much emphasis to the sports academies. Basketball players often do not show
their true worth until high school, especially perimeter players. Remember that
Michael Jordan did not make his high school team in his sophomore year. Under
the Chinese system, he likely would have been cut from top-level competitive
basketball.
The lack of competitive intensity and weight training among junior players
causes the wrong players to be advanced. Those who might benefit from weight
training fail to make the cut in favor of others who, because of either their
inadequate physique or lack of desire, will not improve sufficiently with
advanced conditioning.
And China needs to know the ages of its junior players. Age matters. A player's
age tells you who is likely to develop and who has reached the limits of his
physical potential. Was Yu Chen, a 6-9 167 pound forward who played in the Nike
Global Challenge born in 1990 or 1994? If he was born in 1994, he is an
exceptional prodigy who is likely to fill out. If he was born in 1990, he is
likely to be too thin to succeed in international basketball. If he was born in
1992, he is still a strong prospect but not a super-prodigy.
In today's game
Zhang
Kai (211-C-82) led China with 16 points on 8 of 10 shooting and 9 rebounds.
But Zhang, who at 25 is getting his first international experience, fouled out
in 25 minutes. Gu Liye had 4 points on 1 of 5 shooting, and 4 rebounds, in 5
minutes.
Point guard Han Shuo had 7 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 turnovers in 25
minutes. Yang Ming had 8 points, 2 rebounds and no assists or turnovers in 15
minutes.
Besides Zhang,
Li Ke
was the only Chinese player in double figures with 13 points and also had 2
rebounds and 3 assists. Perimeter players Chen Chen, Yi Li, Wang Yong and Bian
Qiang shot a combined 9 of 27, showing their inability to handle the defensive
intensity of the Philippines.
Power players Gu Liye, Wang Bo, and Wu Qian shot a combined 5 for 18 showing
their inexperience in facing defensive pressure. Only
Li Ke,
who has experience with the national team, and
Zhang
Kai, who might possibly make the Olympic team next year, were able to hit
their shots against the Philippines.
Dan Seigle led the Philippines with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Kelly Williams had
14 points and 8 rebounds. Pauliasi Taulava scored 13 points and grabbed 6
rebounds and Donaldo Hontiveras added 13 points.
Lebanon, Iran Reach Asian Championships
Final - Aug. 4, 2007 Lebanon and
Iran reached the final of the Asian Championship with wins over Korea and
Kazakhstan.
Fadi El
Khatib (197-F-79, agency:
Pro
Management Agency) led Lebanon with 32 points in its 76-74 victory over
Korea. Joseph Vogel had 18 points and 15 rebounds. Yun Ho-Young led Korea with
23 points. Ha Seung Jin had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Iran jumped off to a 26-7 first quarter lead en route to a 75-62 triumph over
Kazakhstan. It held young Anton Ponomarev to 4 points on 0 of 3 shooting and 3
rebounds in 22 minutes.
Mahdi Kamrany and Hamed Afagh each scored 14 points for Iran. 218 cm Hamed
Ehadadi had 8 points and 13 rebounds. Mahammed Nikkha had 12 points and 6
rebounds. Dmitriy Korovnikov led Kazakhstan with 17 points.
Japan gets by Jordan, but fails to
advance - Aug. 2, 2007 The Japanese
national team won a nail-biter against Jordan 71-68 on Thursday (8/2) in
Tokushima in the FIBA Asia Championship, but they failed to advance to the final
round as they finished 3rd in their group at 1 win and 2 losses. Kazakhstan,
which beat Korea 75-73 on Thursday, will advance along with Korea. Kazakhstan
will take on Iran in the next round and Korea will face Lebanon.
In their victory over Jordan, Japan was led by former UCLA standout
J.R.
Sakuragi (206-F-76, agency:
Paris
Global Sports, college:
UCLA)
(Henderson), who led Japan with 17 points and 8 rebounds. Guards Takehiko Orimo
and Takuya Kawamura had 14 points and 11 points respectively. Orimo, the 37-year
old steady veteran, shot 4-for-5 from beyond the arc while yound stud Kawamura,
arguably Japan's MVP of the tournament so far, shot 3-for-6 from 3-point range.
Young forward Kosuke Takeuchi scored 11 points to help lead Japan to victory.
The best Japan can finish in the tournament now is 5th place as they will play
in the consolation round that will determine who will finish in 5th to 8th
place.
Yi, Sun, China Show Upside for NBA,
Olympics - Aug. 2, 2007 China today showed why it could win a medal at the 2008 Olympics with an 82-67
thrashing of the NBA D-League team in the Stankovic Cup. Handling pressure
defense, China and the D-League each had 16 turnovers. China outrebounded the
D-League 39-34.
Yi
Jianlian (212-C/F-87) showed his upside today, scoring 28 points on 10 of 13
shooting and grabbing 15 rebounds. Sun Yue also showed why he was drafted. He
scored 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting in 27 minutes. He had 2 rebounds, 1 assist,
2 steals, 1 block and 4 turnovers.
Wang Zhizhi had an excellent game with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1
block, 1 steal and 3 turnovers. Let us hope Bayi is wise enough to let Wang play
this year for Benetton Treviso in the top Italian league as this will help his
performance in the 2008 Olympics. He will likely see substantial playing time
for Benetton where he is more likely to be a little-used role-player if he
accepts an NBA offer.
Ding Jinhui is continuing to show that he may be the best of the class of 1989
with 3 points and 2 rebounds in 17 minutes.
China finished second to Slovenia in the Stankovic Cup with a 3-2 record. Had
this team competed in the Asian Championships, China would have done far better
in the tournament. But the Stankovic Cup provided better competition to prepare
for the Olympics.
China----- 20 24 22 16 82
D-League 17 19 15 16 67
China 82
Sun Yue 12p+2r+2s+1bl+4to, Liu Wei 12min+0p+2r, Wang Shipeng 9p(4/8)+5r+3a, Zhu
Fangyu 6p(2/7)+2r,
Yi
Jianlian 28p(10/13)+15r+1to, Mo Ke 0p+2r+1a+1bl, Wang Zhizhi
19p(8/20)+7r+4a+1s+1bl+3to, Wang Lei 24min+5p(2/6)+1r+3a+0to, Ding Jinhui
17min+3p(0/1)+2r+2to+4fl
Third straight loss for Taiwan in
quarterfinals - Aug. 2, 2007
Taiwan NT ran out of gas and dropped another game Thursday to Qatar 87-74, its
third straight loss in the quarterfinal round. Taiwan finished 0-3 in Group E,
losing all three games to its West Asia opponents Lebanon, Iran and Qatar, and
will meet Japan in the next game.
If Taiwan beat Japan in the next game, it will earn an opportunity to play for
the 5th place. If it loses, it will have to play for the seventh. Either way,
it's going to be Taiwan's best finish in the Asian Championship since 2001.
Qatar is a familiar foe for Taiwan, which has met the Qatari in the Jones Cup
during the last two years and in last year's Asian Games. Taiwan even routed
Qatar a couple of times at home. Word was that Taiwan has found the winning
formula against Qatar.
Which was not the case at all Thursday. Qatar led from start to finish and
outscored the Taiwanese in every period en route to a convincing victory.
Yasseen Ismail Musa led Qatar with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Ali Saad
Abdulrahman had 20 points and Salem Oman added 15.
Taiwan was led by Chen Hsin-an's 18 points and 7 boards. Tsun Wen-din had his
best game in the tournament with 15 points and 9 rebounds. Lee Chi-yi had 13
while Chen Shih-nian had 10. Wu Dai-hao, one of Taiwan's best performers in the
tournament, went scoreless and fouled out in 14 minutes.
Lebanon, Iran, Kazakhstan and Korea became Asia's latest top four as Lebanon
will meet Korea and Kazakhstan takes on Iran in the crossover semifinals.
Jordan, Japan, Taiwan and Qatar will play in the 5-8 classification games.
Quarterfinal round results:
Qatar 87-74 Taiwan
Kazakhstan 75-73 Korea
Lebanon 82-60 Iran
Japan 71-68 Jordan
Consolation round results: Philippines 89-58 Kuwait
China 100-55 UAE
Syria 105-54 India
Indonesia 81-78 Hong Kong
Group Standings: Group E
Lebanon 3-0
Iran 2-1
Qatar 1-2
Taiwan 0-3
Group F
Kazakhstan 2-1
Korea 2-1
Japan 1-2
Jordan 1-2
Group G
Philippines 3-0
Syria 2-1
Kuwait 1-2
India 0-3
Group H
China 3-0
Indonesia 2-1
Hong Kong 1-2UAE 0-3
Chen Chen Leads China Over UAE - Aug.
2, 2007 China
defeated the United Arab Emirates in a mismatch 100-55 and will meet the
Philippines Saturday for ninth place in the Asian Championships.
Chen
Chen (197-F-86), a pure shooter from Bayi, led China with 25 points hitting
7 of 8 3-pointers against the inept UAE defense. Lets see how well he does
against the far superior Philippine defense.
Gu Liye
(208-C/F-86) had another good game with 19 points on 6 of 8 shooting and 5
rebounds. Yi Li had 13 points and 7 rebounds and Wang Bo had 10 points and 5
rebounds. Wu Qian had 9 points and 5 rebounds in 11 minutes. Li Ke had 8 points
and 7 rebounds in 17 minutes.
China------------------ 33 21 28 18 100
United Arab Emirates 13 15 17 10 55
Kazakhstan Reaches Semi-Finals As
Ponomarev Stars - Aug. 2, 2007 Kazakhstan
defeated Korea today 75-73 to win the last spot in the semi-finals of the Asian
Championship. Kazakhstan will face Iran on Saturday while Korea will play
Lebanon. Young
Anton
Ponomarev (209-C-88) scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for
Kazakhstan. Ponomarev is an NBA prospect for the future and a prospect for top
European clubs right now.
GROUP E
1. LIB 3 0 267 192 6
2. IRI 2 1 231 233 5
3. QAT 1 2 242 259 4
4. TPE 0 3 202 258 3
GROUP F
1. KAZ 2 1 241 240 5
2. KOR 2 1 236 223 5
3. JPN 1 2 239 254 4
4. JOR 1 2 215 214 4
GROUP G
1. PHI 3 0 300 227 6
2. SYR 2 1 314 230 5
3. KUW 1 2 199 266 4
4. IND 0 3 191 281 3
GROUP H
1. CHN 3 0 295 171 6
2. INA 2 1 211 261 5
3. HKG 1 2 234 238 4
4. UAE 0 3 200 270 3
Japan loses to Korea, now down 0-2 in
Round 2 - Aug. 1, 2007 Korea
continued their domination of Japan by winning a close game 93-83 on Wednesday
(8/1) night in Tokushima in the FIBA Asia Championship. Korea clearly has
Japan's number as the win marks Korea's 9th consecutive victory over Japan in
international play. Korea was paced by 29 points from Dong-Geun Yang and 21
points from Seung-Hyun Kim.
Japan's leading scorer was once again emerging star Takuya Kawamura who, along
with
J.R. Sakuragi (206-F-76, agency:
Paris
Global Sports, college:
UCLA), led
Japan with 17 points. Kawamura, a shooting guard, scored 17 points on 4-for-6
shooting from 3-point range while Sakuragi, a.k.a. J.R. Henderson, had 17
rebounds to go along with his 17 points. The former Toyota and now Rera Kamuy
Hokkaido duo of Takehiko Orimo and Ryota Sakurai contributed with 12 points
apiece.
Japan has not been eliminated from the tournament yet. However, it would be an
understatement to say that their backs are against the wall. Japan is so far
back against the wall that they can now feel every crevasse.
Japan now has to not only beat Jordan, but they need Kazakhstan to lose to Korea
to set up a tie-breaker. If Japan beats Jordan and Korea does beat Kazakhstan,
it would make it a 3-way tie for 2nd place with 3 teams at 1 win and 2 losses.
The tie-breaker (points for, points against average) would then come into play.
Lebanon eliminates Taiwan's semi
hope - Aug. 1, 2007
Chung Kwang-suk's hope of leading Taiwan NT back to the Asian Championship
semifinals was crushed after a 95-64 blowout loss to Lebanon Wednesday, the
second straight loss for Taiwan NT in the quarterfinal round.
The Lebanese dominated the game throughout. It enjoyed a comfortable 39-26
halftime lead and kept pushing the lead in the second half. Fadi El Khatib
scored a game-high 28 points on 10 of 17 shooting and made all seven of his
free-throws. Joseph Vogel and Brian Feghali each had 14 points while Jean
Abdel-Nour had 13.
Taiwan, which played its worst game at the worst time, was led by Chen Hsin-an's
21 points. Lin Chih-jay followed with 15 points. Wu Dai-hao had 9.
By dropping two games in a row, Taiwan was out of the semifinals. But it's hard
to blame head coach Chung, a Korean. Chung did not have much time to train the
team, and he lost at least four injured players that all could have made the
national team roster -- Chen Chih-chun, Ho Sho-jen, Su Yi-chieh and Tien Lei.
Keep in mind, that did not include Tsun Wen-din, who didn't play until the
quarterfinal round but was a non-factor in the tournament.
Quarterfinal round results:
Jordan 82-73 Kazakhstan
Lebanon 95-64 Taiwan
Iran 95-87 Qatar
Korea 93-83 Japan
Consolation round results:
Philippines 104-69 India
China 102-47 Indonesia
Syria 109-69 Kuwait
Hong Kong 87-64 UAE
(photo: fiba.com)
China Defeats Indonesia 102-47 - Aug.
1, 2007 Yi Li
(204-F/G-87) scored 23 points and grabbed 7 rebounds as China defeated Indonesia
102-47 in the Asian Championship in Tokushima Japan.
Yi Li
was described as a power forward in the on-site game report and can play that
position against weak teams such as Indonesia. He plays that position for
Jiangsu in the CBA.
But horizontally-challenged Yi cannot play power forward against world-class
competition or even against the better teams in Asia. Yi could probably be an
excellent shooting guard if he were trained to play that position and could gain
experience playing shooting guard in the CBA. This is why it is so important for
China to send its young players to the weight room. Groomed as a power forward,
Yi may never realize his potential in international competition where he might
excel as a 6-9 shooting guard.
Gu Liye had another excellent game with 16 points and 8 rebounds. But he too
must add bulk and muscle if he is to dominate inside against better teams.
Han Shuo had an excellent game at point guard with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 1
assist and no turnovers in 20 minutes. Han could still prove to be the best
point guard in the class of 1989 once he equals Liu Xiaoyu and Chen Jianghua in
experience.
Chen Chen had 13 points and 2 rebounds and Wang Yong had 10 points and 1
rebound. Zhang Kai had 6 points and 5 rebounds in 13 minutes.
China leads Group H with a 2-0 record and faces the weak United Arab Emirates
team tomorrow. It will very likely play the Philippines, which is 2-0 in Group
G, for ninth place. It remains to be seen whether players like Yi, Gu, Chen and
Wang can, with the experience they have gained, compete against the competent
Philippines team. China lost to the Philippines in the preliminary round.
Iran, Lebanon, Korea Earn Spots in
Asian Championship Semi-Finals - Aug. 1, 2007 Iran,
Lebanon and Korea guaranteed themselves a place in the semi-finals with
victories today in the Asian Championship. Jordan, Kazakhstan and Japan are all
in contention for the fourth spot depending on results tomorrow. China blasted
Indonesia 102-47 and will likely be facing the Philippines in a battle for ninth
place bragging rights after each defeat weak opponents tomorrow.
Group E
1. LIB 2 0 185 132 4
2. IRI 2 0 171 151 4
3. QAT 0 2 155 185 2
4. TPE 0 2 128 171 2
GROUP F
1. KOR 2 0 163 148 4
2. JOR 1 1 147 143 3
3. KAZ 1 1 166 167 3
4. JPN 0 2 168 186 2
GROUP G
1. PHI 2 0 211 169 4
2. SYR 1 1 209 176 3
3. KUW 1 1 141 177 3
4. IND 0 2 137 176 2
GROUP H
1. CHN 2 0 195 116 4
2. HKG 1 1 156 157 3
3. INA 1 1 130 183 3
4. UAE 0 2 145 170 2
Japan comes up short in loss to
Kazakhstan - Jul. 31, 2007 Japan put up
a valiant effort but couldn't stop Kazakhstan's 3-headed monster of Anton
Ponomarev, Yevgeniy Issakov, and Rustam Yargaliyew and lost by a score of 93-85
on Tuesday (7/31) in Tokushima in the FIBA Asia Championship. It was Japan's
first defeat in their first 4 games of the tournament. Scoring machine
Takuya
Kawamura (191-G-86) was once again the leading scorer for Japan with 21
points on 7-for-12 shooting from beyond the arc while dependable veteran
Takehiko Orimo has his usual solid game with 16 points on 4-for-6 shooting from
3-point range. Kosuke Takeuchi contributed with 11 points, but the big man only
managed to grab 2 rebounds. J.R. Sakuragi chipped in with 10 points and 6 boards
off the bench.
Japan never led during the game, but kept the game close throughout. Japan's
defense let them down as they were unable to stop Ponomarev, Issakov, and
Yargaliyew, who had 24 points, 20 points, and 23 points respectively.
Japan now faces an uphill battle in their quest to move on to the next round,
which means that they will most likely have to win their next 2 games. They face
rival Korea today (8/1) and will battle Jordan on Thursday (8/2).
China Romps Over Hong Kong But Still
Must Change Its Ways - Jul. 31, 2007 Gu Liye
(208-C/F-86) had 22 points and 6 rebounds to lead China to a 93-69 rout of Hong
Kong in the Asian Championships in Tokushima, Japan. Chen Lei had 16 points and
4 rebounds and Yi Li had 12 points and 3 rebounds. Yang Ming and Han Shuo shared
the point guard position, playing 20 minutes apiece. Han had 9 points, 3
rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 0 turnovers. Yang had 8 points, 2 assists, 2
steals and 1 turnover.
China showed it can still dominate lesser Asian teams with its not-so-elite
players but these players cannot defeat the improving top-tier teams. If China
adequately utilized its population advantage, its second-tier players should be
able to beat the better Asian teams.
So China must still improve the conditioning of its players, especially on the
junior level. It must cull its players after high school, not during elementary
school, as you often cannot tell who is most talented in basketball at an early
age. China too much tends to pick early-developers who grow fast and then stop.
China must play the junior game with conditioning and intensity so that those
who would be best at international-style basketball rise to the top. Right now
there are too many players who excel only in the more-laid-back Chinese style.
China------- 21 28 20 24 93
Hong Kong 14 14 20 21 69
Box Scores
Iran, Korea, Lebanon, Kazakhstan Win
Quarterfinals Games, China Routs Hong Kong - Jul. 31, 2007
