In less than a week’s time, the curtains will open on the 2014 FIBA
Asia Cup, which will be held in Wuhan, China, the site of the 2011 FIBA Asia
Men’s Championships. Nine teams are participating in this edition of what was
formerly called the FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup (Uzbekistan backed out a couple of
days ago). This tourney happens every two years, with the latest one held in
Tokyo in 2012. The winner in that edition was Iran, which beat the host nation,
53-51, in the Finals. Iran went through the whole field unscathed, beating
India, Qatar, Taiwan, and Japan in the group stage, then upending Uzbekistan
and the Philippines in the knockout rounds before repeating over the Japs in
the Championship Game.
Taiwan was one of the stronger teams in that tournament, too, boasting
of many of its star players joining the roster. The iconic trio of Tien Lei,
Tseng Wen-Ting, and Lin Chih-Chieh led the way for the Taiwanese, who missed
making the top four after a close defeat at the hands of the Philippines (they
would avenge this a year later in Manila). Two teams currently participating in
this year’s edition missed the 2012 joust – Jordan and Singapore. Both,
however, seem to be very promising as they swept their respective qualifying tournaments
heading to Wuhan.
In this second of a four-part preview, we’ll take a look at those three
teams from Group B: Jordan, Taiwan, and Singapore.
 |
| Jordan's Rasheim Wright (top left), Singapore's Wong Wei Long (bottom left), and Taiwan's Liu Cheng are three guys to watch in Wuhan. |
JORDAN
Roster:
Number
|
First
Name
|
Last Name
|
Birthday
|
Height
|
Weight
|
Position
|
4
|
02/04/1985
|
6’4
|
87
|
PG/SG
|
||
5
|
21/07/1981
|
6’4
|
85
|
PG/SG
|
||
6
|
04/03/1993
|
6’11
|
100
|
C
|
||
7
|
10/10/1986
|
6’6
|
93
|
F
|
||
8
|
03/03/1990
|
6’11
|
102
|
C
|
||
9
|
01/04/1983
|
6’8
|
98
|
F
|
||
10
|
23/10/1991
|
6’6
|
84
|
F
|
||
11
|
24/04/1983
|
6’3
|
83
|
PG/SG
|
||
12
|
25/12/1987
|
6’3
|
86
|
SG
|
||
13
|
20/07/1985
|
6’2
|
85
|
SF
|
||
14
|
06/11/1984
|
6’7
|
95
|
F
|
||
15
|
30/05/1984
|
6’8
|
98
|
C
|
Prognosis:
There are three things that excite me about this current iteration
of the Jordanian national team, also known as Al Nashama: veteran naturalized player Rasheim Wright is back, new
coach Rajko Toroman is hell-bent on steering the team back to previous glory,
and their two young centers – Ahmad Al-Dwairi and Mohammad Shaher Hussain – are
developing at a rapid pace.
Wright, who led Jordan to an unprecedented silver medal finish in
the 2011 FIBA Asia Men’s Championships, is back in tow, ready to drain those
midrangers and threes once again. His replacement, Jimmy Baxter, struggled with
chemistry and defense in Manila last year, but having Wright back should really
make Jordan the feared team it once was. He’s turning 33 this month, though,
which means he might not be as spritely as he once was. Still, his leadership
and clutch shooting will matter the most for Toroman’s crew.
Speaking of Toroman, the former Iran and Gilas Pilipinas coach is
now on his third tour of duty in FIBA Asia, hoping to, this time, helm Al Nashama back to the promised land. His
track record speaks for itself, of course, as he coached Iran in its maiden
title run in 2007 and coached Gilas in its first top four finish (2011) in a
very long time. If there’s someone who can make Jordan a more dangerous team
and bring out the best in its talents, then Toroman is the man.
And, finally, speaking of Jordan’s talents, its two young slotmen –
Al-Dwairi and Hussain – both of whom stand 6’11, have garnered a lot of
top-level experience after playing in Manila last year, in the 2014 WABA
Championships, and for top Jordanian club Applied Science University. Expect
both guys to play, quite literally, big roles for Jordan in this tournament and
in the next handful of years.
TAIWAN
Roster:
Number
|
First
Name
|
Last Name
|
Birthday
|
Height
|
Weight
|
Position
|
4
|
30/05/1990
|
6’5
|
95
|
PF
|
||
5
|
16/02/1983
|
6’8
|
102
|
C
|
||
6
|
05/12/1989
|
6’0
|
82
|
PG
|
||
7
|
10/07/1992
|
6’7
|
95
|
C
|
||
8
|
22/12/1992
|
6’5
|
90
|
PF
|
||
9
|
09/06/1993
|
6’0
|
86
|
PG
|
||
10
|
27/10/1989
|
6’2
|
89
|
F
|
||
11
|
24/11/1990
|
6’4
|
85
|
F
|
||
12
|
04/02/1991
|
6’3
|
90
|
PG
|
||
13
|
15/10/1991
|
6’7
|
105
|
C
|
||
14
|
18/12/1987
|
6’5
|
91
|
SG
|
||
15
|
30/12/1993
|
6’6
|
114
|
C
|
Prognosis:
Missing the names I mentioned in the introduction to this piece?
Your eyes aren’t deceiving you. This is not Taiwan’s top national team roster
participating in the FIBA Asia Cup. Yes, naturalize d center Quincy Davis is
present and will undoubtedly make them team competitive, but without key
veterans to provide leadership and impart valuable experience, the ceiling for
this team coached by Huang Wan-Lung isn’t sky-high.
That’s not to say there isn’t anybody to watch out for, however.
This team, after all, will be led by no less than Taiwanese Super Basketball
League MVP Liu Cheng. Unlike many of the national team mainstays, who are
signed by big name clubs in the mainland, Liu plies his trade locally, and he
actually led his club, Taiwan Beer, to the 2014 SBL Finals, losing to Taiwan
Mobile in five games. Liu is known as a very versatile 6’4 wingman, someone
who’s aggressive driving to the hole and someone who can hit long toms in
succession. He’s like a more aggressive and consistent version JC Intal for
Taiwan.
Aside from him, a couple of other guys worth our attention are
young big men Hu Long-Mao (Kevin Hu) and Lee Te-Wei. Hu plays in Division 1 of
the US NCAA (Chaminade Silverswords), and he’s noted as a power forward who can
put the ball on the floor and shoot from the perimeter. Lee, for his part, is
projected to be the successor of the likes of veteran centers Tseng Wen-Ting
and Wu Tai-Hao. He will be the primary back-up of Davis in the middle. The
Taiwanese might struggle winning this particular edition of the FIBA Asia Cup,
but the fruits of their labor might help them win in the very near future.
SINGAPORE
Roster:
Number
|
First
Name
|
Last Name
|
Birthday
|
Height
|
Weight
|
Position
|
4
|
16/01/1995
|
6’0
|
73
|
SG
|
||
5
|
18/08/1988
|
6’2
|
75
|
PG
|
||
6
|
13/01/1989
|
6’4
|
84
|
SF
|
||
7
|
31/05/1996
|
6’3
|
78
|
SF
|
||
8
|
16/06/1986
|
5’11
|
73
|
SG
|
||
9
|
24/03/1994
|
6’2
|
83
|
PF
|
||
10
|
24/03/1994
|
6’1
|
80
|
F
|
||
11
|
16/09/1989
|
6’0
|
73
|
SF
|
||
12
|
07/12/1990
|
6’4
|
86
|
PF/C
|
||
13
|
07/05/1990
|
6’4
|
97
|
C
|
||
14
|
14/04/1995
|
6’7
|
90
|
C
|
||
15
|
05/09/1994
|
6’3
|
80
|
PG
|
Prognosis:
Singapore has defied the odds and its inherent limitations to rise
as the second-best team in Southeast Asia. For the first time, they placed
third in the 2013 SEA Games and then they went on to sweep the 2014 SEABA Cup
after drubbing hosts Indonesia, 72-62, and Malaysia, 69-61.
In both games, ASEAN Basketball League veteran Wong Wei Long shone,
scoring a total of 38 points and hitting 8 triples. He also averaged 8 rebounds
and 4 assists in the two contests. Basically put, he’s Singpore’s #1 weapon,
though he will really be put to the test against stiffer competition in Wuhan.
At around 25-26 years old, Wong is also already one of the team’s
elder statesmen, along with Desmond Oh, who’s two years older. More than half the team was born in 1990 or
later, which means Singapore, despite already garnering an impressive string of
successes, seeks to improve even more moving forward.
By virtue of Uzbekistan’s withdrawal, Singapore should already feel
like a winner, as they will automatically advance to the second round and play
a total of six games against high-quality Asian competition. Clearly, there’s
no way to go but up for this young, if undersized, crew.
Watch out for the last two parts in the next few days!
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