Asian Basketball Journal - February 2, 2015

Here in the Philippines there really is no site (or person) really dedicated to the Asian hoops scene, which is why this series exists. Through this series of Asian Basketball Journals, I hope to address just that void. I believe that Asian basketball is such a vibrant source of stories, and I think this should be shared with hoop nuts here in the Philippines and beyond.

Like in previous posts, I won’t be going into a lot of detail. I’ll use mostly images and then just add captions to each one that will, hopefully, capture the essence of the latest developments in Asian hoops.

Here are the highlights of this past week in Asian basketball:
- The 2015 CBA Playoffs cast is now complete after Dongguan’s win over Beijing effectively gave Xinjiang the boot.
- The race for the top 6 in the KBL heated up with separate wins from Anyang KGC, the Changwon LG Sakers, and the Busan KT Sonic Boom.
- It was upsets galore in the NBL with wins from the Link Tochigi Brex, Chiba Jets, and Toyota Alvark.
- The 2015 SBL All-Star Weekend was a blast with Bryan Davis ruling festivities and hostilities.
- Petrochimi Bandar Imam advanced to the 2015 IBF Superleague Finals after eliminating Azad University.
- The Lebanese Basketball League saw an historic game with Nikoloz Tsikitishvili and Terrell Stoglin pairing up for 126 points!


2014-2015 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA):
- Images from OSports.cn.

FIBA Asia rivals Lin Chih-Chieh and Zhu Fangyu share a light moment as the Guangsha Lions defeated league-leading GuangDong, 125-119.

Former NT star playmaker Liu Wei looks inconsolable after his Xinjiang Flying Tigers, runners-up last season, fell short of making the 2015 Playoffs.

Chinese basketball icon Wang Zhizhi gets one last victory ride after he played his final CBA game. He scored 12 points as the Bayi Rockets beat the Zhejiang Golden Bulls, 131-116.

Dongguan’s Zhang Kai slams one home as the Leopards beat the defending champion Beijing Ducks to advance to the 2015 CBA Playoffs.

2014-2015 Korean Basketball League (KBL):
- Images from Jumpball.co.kr.

Busan KT Sonic Boom nailed a huge win at the expense of cellar-dwellers Seoul Samsung Thunders, 70-60. Star shooter Cho Sung-Min had 9 markers in the win.

Davon Jefferson has been awesome for the Changwon LG Sakers as they’ve strung together 11 straight wins.

Despite putting up 22 points and 11 rebounds, 7’3 Ha Seung-Jin still failed to lead the Jeonju KCC Egis past defending champs Ulsan Mobis Phoebus. The Egis remain in second-to-the-last place.

Anyang KGC’s Yang Hee-Jong emphatically grabs the rebound as his team defeated higher ranked Wonju Dongbu Promy, 71-66. Anyang is in 8th place and needs more wins to sneak into the postseason.

2014-2015 Japan National Basketball League (NBL):

Keita Takata of the Kumamoto Volters tries to put a move on Mitsubishi’s Takumi Ishizaki. Takata scored 8 points, but his squad still lost, 93-82. Kumamoto fell to 3-22 for the season, while Mitsubishi got its 19th win.
(image from Kumamoto)

KJ Matsui lobs one from beyond the arc as the Toyota Alvark upset the East-leading Hitachi Sunrockers, 89-66. Matsui hit 4 treys on his way to 19 points in the victory.(image from NBL)

Masaharu Kataoka and the rest of Levanga Hokkaido had an easy time disposing of the Tsukuba Robots, 93-63. It was Levanga’s seventh win. Tsukuba, meanwhile, remained winless after 27 games.(image from Levanga Hokkaido)

Former NT guard Takatoshi Furukawa squares for a long shot against the Hiroshima Dragonflies. Furukawa’s team, Link Tochigi Brex prevailed in this encounter, 74-61, to move up to 2nd place in the East.(image from Link Sports)

2014-2015 Taiwan Super Basketball League (SBL):
- Images from TSNA.

KKL import Bryan Davis tallied a record-setting 50 points in the 2015 SBL All-Star Game as his Team White beat Team Red, 119-117. Not surprisingly, he was also named All-Star Game MVP. Oh, and he was the Slam Dunk Champion as well.

Replacement entry Lu Guan-Liang, a rookie from Yulon Luxgen, beat all other comers in the Skills Challenge with a time of 18.01 seconds. He won NT$30,000 for his troubles.

2014-2015 Iran Basketball Federation (IBF) Superleague:
- Images from IFNAM.

Behnam Yakhchali tries to get an outlet pass to teammate Hamed Afagh. Yakhchali and Afagh helped Petrochimi Bandar Imam beat Azad University in their KO semis game, 73-68.

Mohammad Reza Lofti of Azad tries to track down the loose ball in this sequence. Lofti had 16 points as his team was eliminated from title contention.

Iranian superstar Samad Nikkhah Bahrami struggled from the field but still ended up with a game-high 17 points as Petrochimi booked a Finals ticket opposite arch-rival Mahram Tehran.

2014-2015 Lebanese Basketball League (LBL):
- Images from Arabasket.com.

Veteran wingman Elie Rustom hit 4 triples and dropped 27 points as Sagesse beat Homenetmen. Rustom looks to be a major piece of Lebanon’s national team this year.

Raffi Khaloyan of Homenetmen Beirut tries to keep the ball away from Sagesse import Terrell Stoglin. Homenetmen lost, 106-79.

Former NBA big man Nikoloz Tsikitishvili scored 52 points on 22/29 FG shooting as Champville beat Sagesse in double-overtime, 138-130.

Naturalization candidate Terrell Stoglin tallied an eye-popping 74 points as Sagesse was defeated by Champville. This was only the second loss of Sagesse in nine outings.

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