The Koreans completed
a sweep of the tournament after beating the Chinese in the Finals,
while the
Japanese had to keep a pesky Hong Kong team at bay in the battle for third
place.
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| Wang Zhelin (L) found the going tough against Korea's Lee Jong-Hyun (R). |
In the first
game, Japan found itself in a dogfight against a very determined Hong Kong
five. The game was pretty tight all throughout till the Japs extended the lead
into double-figures in the fourth quarter. Kosuke Kanamaru connected on 5
triples on his way to a team-high 28 points. The Panasonic Trian shot a total
of 52% from the floor and also grabbed 8 rebounds. Kosuke Takeuchi, meanwhile,
anchored the middle for coach Kimikazu Suzuki. Takeuchi finally broke out big
time by scoring 22 points and hauling down 15 rebounds in an almost no-relief
performance. Hong Kong, for its part, was led by CBA player Lo Yi Ting’s
game-high 31 markers. Despite the loss, HK will still advance to the 2013 FIBA
Asia Men’s Tournament in Manila.
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| Kosuke Takeuchi broke out against Hong Kong. |
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| That's Duncan Reid trying to shoot over Takeuchi. |
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| Lo Yi Ting was the lone bright spot today. |
The second
game saw a resolute Korean home team slow down China’s imposing frontline and
win the title, 79-68. In the much anticipated match-up between Korea’s Kim
Jong-Kyu and Lee Jong-Hyun going up against China’s Wang Zhelin and Li Muhao, the
Koreans came out on top. Kim and Lee had more combined points, and though Wang
and Li have more rebounds, Kim and Lee outhustled them on defense as proven by
the combined 7 blocks of those two boys. Kim Min-Goo led the way with 18 points
on 6-of-12 FG shooting, including 3 treys. Min-Goo also grabbed 12 rebounds. Another Korean hero
was Park Chan-Hee, who netted 15 markers, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals. Guo
Ailun led the Big Red with 17 points while nailing just 7 of his 17 field goal
attempts. Sun Tonglin, Wang, and Li all scored 11 or more points for Team
China.
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| Kim Jong-Kyu (L) takes it strong against China's Li Muhao. |
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| Kim Min-Goo tries from in close. |
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| Yoon Ho-Young shoots the trey. |
*All images are from Jumpball.org
2 Comment
sir enzo, did any of the teams had a full lineup? i mean were there any key players who did not play here but will be expected to be here in Manila in August? more power to hoopnut!!!:)
BalasChina and Korea sent primarily their B Teams composed mostly of U22 stars and a sprinkling of veterans. Japan was probably the most veteran-laden team with Takeuchi, Sakurai, Kanamaru et al. Taiwan missed many of its stars, too.
Balas