Here in the Philippines there 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.
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| Pro hoops action is really heating up all over Asia! |
Here are the highlights of these past few weeks in Asian hoops:
- The top teams in the KBL and NBL-Japan continued to roll an dominate.
- The 2014-2015 CBA season finally kicked off!
- BC Astana continues to rule the four-team Kazakh league.
- Sagesse bags the 2014 Al Qadisia title.
- Al Rayyan wins the 2014 Arab Club Championships.
- The 2014 ABL Finals heat up as Hi Tech Bangkok beats the Malaysia Dragons in Game 1.
2014-2015 Japanese National Basketball League (NBL):
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| Hiroki Watanabe launches one as the Link Tochigi Brex sweep their back-to-back against Levanga Hokkaido. (image from Link Tochigi) |
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| Ira Brown and Kenta Hirose celebrate as the Hitachi Sunrockers remain on top of the NBL team standings. (image from Hitachi) |
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| Nick Fazekas and the rest of the Toshiba Brave Thunders continue to struggle in the 2014-2015 season. (image from Toshiba) |
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| Shinnosuke Negoro and the Hyogo Storks won twice against Wakayama before losing today against the Aishin Seahorses. (image from the Hyogo Storks) |
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| Former national team playmaker Shinsuke Kashiwagi has been a very important piece of Aishin's undefeated campaign so far. (image from Aishin) |
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| Former NT player Takatoshi Furukawa dropped 13 points as Link Tochigi Brex picked up its seventh win. (image from Link Tochigi) |
2014-2015 Korean Basketball League (KBL):
- All images are from Jumpball.co.kr.
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| 6'8 center Kim Jun-Yi dropped 24 points as the Seoul Samsung Thunder beat the Jeonju KCC Egis earlier this week. |
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| Playmaker Kim Si-Rae has been playing well as the Changwon LG Sakers have won three games in a row. |
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| Top rookie Lee Seung-Hyun had 13 points and 7 rebounds as the Goyang Orions beat the Jeoneju KCC Egis today, 84-76. |
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| National team PG Yang Dong-Geun rifles in a three-pointer as Ulsan Mobis Phoebus defeated the Incheon ET Land Elephants last weekend, 80-72. |
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| Yang Hee-Jong helped the struggling Anyang KGC squad beat the Seoul SK Knights today, 82-69. |
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| National team swingman Yoon Ho-Young drives past Ricardo Powell as the Wonju Dongbu Promy continued their strong play with a 76-70 victory over the Incheon ET Land Elephants tonight. |
2014-2015 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA):
- All images are from Osports.cn.
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| Despite 28 points from The Lebanese Tiger, Fadi El-Khatib, the Foshan Long Lions lost to the Liaoning Flying Leopards on opening weekend. |
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| Han Shuo and the rest of the Bayi Rockets continued to struggle at the start of the 2014-2015 season, losing their third straight game this weekend. |
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| Taiwanese wingman Jet Chang recorded 19 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 threes as the Sichuan Blue Whales lost to the Tianjin Steel Golden Lions today, 115-108. |
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| Naturalized Filiino Andray Blatche dueled with Metta World Peace on opening weekend. Blatche is currently averaging around 23 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal for the 3-0 Xinjiang Fying Tigers. |
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| Former NBAers Michael Beasley and Delonte West have teamed up for the Shanghai Sharks this season. So far, it hasn't been a rosy partnership, though, as the Sharks have lost their first three games. |
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| Erick McCollum of the Zhejiang Golden Bulls is currently #2 in scoring, dropping 38.7 points per contest. |
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| Serbian big man Miroslav Raduljica was instrumental in helping the Shandong Flaming Bulls win on opening weekend, but they have since struggled, losing their last two games. |
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| The defending champion Beijing Ducks have started the season well, going 3-0 so far. Stephon Marbury has been a big contributor, norming about 21 points, 4 boards, and 5 assists per game. |
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| Yi Jianlian and the Guangdong Southern Tigers may have lost their opening match to Beijing, but they have bounced back well, winning over Jilin and Shandong this week. |
2014-2015 Kazakhstan Division 1 Basketball:
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| #31 Anatoliy Kolesnikov has carried over his strong play from the 2014 Asian Games to his campaign with BC Astana despite playing off the bench. (image from VK.com) |
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| National team mainstay Anton Ponomarev has been solid as BC Astana's main reserve center. (image from VK.com) |
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| Jerry Jamar Johnson leads the Division 1 scoring table with nearly 18 points per contest. (image from PPZ.kz) |
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| Former national team teammates Dimo Klimov (#12) and Mikhail Yevstigneyev (#37) faced off this week, with Klimov's BC Astana prevailing over Yevstigneyev's Almaty Legion. (image from VK.com) |
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| Greek-American Pat Calathes has been a double-double machine for BC Astana this season. (image from PPZ.kz) |
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| Pavel Mikheyev of Almaty Legion tries to box out Luksa Andric of BC Astana. Astana has beaten Almaty 4 out of 4 so far this season. (image from VK.com) |
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| Vasili Savchenko of BC Kapshagay tries to outmaneuver the Astana defense here. BC Kapshagay is running second in the team standings with a 2-2 slate. (image from PPZ.kz) |
2014 Arab Club Championships:
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| Top Qatari club Al Rayyan celebrates after bagging the 2014 Arab Club Championships, beating Morocco's AS Sale, 85-78. (image from QNA.org.qa) |
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| The Qataris had to defeat top Egyptian side, Al Ahly Cairo in the semifinals to advance to the championship game. (image from Olympic.qa) |
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| Qatari living legend Yaseen Musa receives the trophy for the victorious Qataris. (image from Olympic.qa) |
2014 Al Qadisia Tournament:
- credit to The Daily Star writer Dany Abboud for all the information and links to the images.
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| National team playmaker Rodrigue Akl shows off the championship trophy after Sagesse beat Ittihad Alexandria of Egypt, 77-73. (image from Sagesse) |
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| Sagesse wins its first title since the 2006 WABA Tournament. (image from Dany Abboud) |
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| Sagesse rallied past fellow Lebanese club Tadamon Zouk in the semifinals, 89-82. (image from Sagesse) |
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| Young playmaker Wael Arakji has been a vital cog for Al Riyadi, which struggled in the Arab Club Championships after losing star scorer Ahmad Ibrahim to food poisoning. (image from The Daily Star) |
2014 ASEAN Basketball League:
- All images are from the ASEAN Basketball League.
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| Al Vergara and the rest of the Singapore Slingers got booted out in the semifinals. |
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| Jerick Cañada dropped a season-high 23 points on top of 6 assists as Hi-Tech Bangkok beat the Westports Malaysia Dragons in Game 1 of the 2014 ABL Finals, 93-77. |
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| Pinoy super scorer Leo Avenido failed to lead the Saigon Heat past the Westports Malaysia Dragons in the semifinals. |
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| Fil-Tongan Moala Tautuaa needs to play well in Game 2 if the Dragons want to avert falling into a 0-2 hole. |
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