2013 FIBA Asia Championship Power Rankings 2

MANILA, Philippines — These rankings are based on each team’s Team Efficiency Ratings (TER – sum of all its players’ efficiency ratings as calculated by PBA-Online.net) AND its wins. The formula I used was this:

Cumulative Efficiency Rating (CER) = TER + (# of wins x 70)

I gave each win a value of 70 stat points simply because the average score for each of the 2013 FIBA Asia teams so far is 71.65ppg. I just rounded that down to an even 70.

Despite the limitations of the statistical basis, I believe that these rankings still generally reflect a balance of “how good each team has been” and “how good each team is projected to be.”

I’m 110% sure not everyone will agree with the following rankings, but that was never the point anyway. As long as this fosters discussion and gives fodder for tabletop discourse, then all’s good. Well, hopefully.

Let’s go. Time for the disagreeing to begin.

1. IRAN (6 wins, 0 losses, 684.2 CER)

By far, Hamed Haddadi has been the best player in this tournament. He’s averaging 17.2ppg, 8.7rpg, and 1.7bpg in just under 20 minutes of play per outing. That means he will be fresh for the next round, and that is definitely bad news for the Jordanians.

2. CHINESE TAIPEI (5 wins, 1 loss, 607.4 CER)

The loss to Qatar dampened the Taiwanese’s hopes of advancing to the semifinals, but don’t count them out just yet. Of the final eight, there are only two teams with more than three players scoring in double-figures, and Taiwan is one of those teams.

Quincy Davis, Lin Chih-Chieh, Tien Lei, and Lu Cheng-Ju are all norming 10 or more per game, and if they find their touch against China, a landmark win isn’t out of the question.

3. SOUTH KOREA (5 wins, 1 loss, 595.8 CER)

Amidst the din of more ballyhooed teams, the Koreans have quietly piled on the wins and gained great momentum heading into their big match with the dangerous Qataris.

Cho Sung-Min, Kim Sun-Hyung, Kim Joo-Sung, and Lee Jong-Hyun are all shooting 50% or better from the field, while Kim Min-Goo is making more than 2 triples per game. If coach Yoo Jae-Hak’s boys stay true to form, they should make the semifinals.

4. PHILIPPINES (5 wins, 1 loss, 589.0 CER)

The home team swept round two after the demoralizing loss to Taiwan on Day 3, but the too-close-for-comfort win over Hong Kong last night left a lot to be desired. Marcus Douthit has been solid with 14.7ppg, 10.3rpg, and 2.0bpg, but the jury’s out on how he’ll perform given his bruised calf.

There are five guys, however, who make at least 1 triple per game (Chan, De Ocampo, Fonacier, Tenorio, and Alapag), and if they can shoot better than they did against HKG, then Gilas will be one step closer to Spain ’14.

5. CHINA (4 wins, 2 losses, 539.01 CER)

As expected, China swept round two with Yi playing sparingly in just one game. In terms of form, they are still quite far from the team that won in 2011, and the point guards are still shaky, but three wins can do wonders for the confidence of any squad.

Also, the progress of youngsters Wang Zhelin and Zhou Peng seem to be coming along quite well. If Yi asserts himself against Davis, and the guards don’t commit a lot of errors (I am looking at you, Wang Shipeng), then China shouldn’t have a tough time winning over a higher-seeded Taiwan.

6. QATAR (4 wins, 1 loss, 500.9 CER)

Qatar is the other team with four guys scoring in double-digits (Hayes, Daoud, Musa, and Saeed), but that one quarter of crap against Gilas shattered any notion of invincibility they might have had. And against a speedy and streaky team Korean team, which has similar strengths with Gilas, Qatar will have its work cut out.

7. KAZAKHSTAN (3 wins, 3 losses, 434.08 CER)

The Kazakhs are no pansies, that’s for sure, and they pushed Gilas in their tune-up game two weeks ago, but if the injuries to Jerry Johnson and Mikhail Yevstigneyev are as severe as they are being presented, then the Snow Leopards will be clear underdogs against Gilas. The key will be Anton Ponomarev. If he can carry this team by shooting the lights out tomorrow, then the Kazakhs just might make the semis.

8. JORDAN (3 wins, 3 losses, 433.7 CER)

Al Nashama finds itself in a familiar situation – looking up as a fourth seed with the top-seeded Iranians looking down. It’ll be a much tougher mountain to conquer, however, as the absence of Sam Daghlas continues to be felt.

Mohammad Hadrab has played splendidly though, almost negating the void left by Zaid Abbas, but, still, the quality might not be there against Team Melli. Well, unless Jimmy Baxter drops 50 or something like that. – Rappler.com