Gilas Diaries: Asia’s Brightest Stars (Part 2)

(Last of six parts)

Part 1: The Adopted Sons of West and Central Asia

Part 2: The Adopted Sons of East Asia

Part 3: West Asia’s Old Guards

Part 4: East Asia’s Old Guards

Part 5: West Asia’s Brightest Stars

MANILA, Philippines — It is July 28 here in Manila, and there are only 4 nights left before the 2013 FIBA Asia Men’s Championship Tournament, the first ever held in these parts in 4 decades, kicks off at the ultramodern Mall of Asia Arena and the historic Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

An air of excitement can be felt all around the metropolis as the promotions for the event continue to ramp up each day. Various signs along highways, advertisements on radio and TV, and promo spots on YouTube have popped up, readying the rabid Filipino populace for what should be the biggest sporting event of the year.

And as the last one-time-big-time FIBA Asia Men’s Championship (the format will change after the 2014 World Cup) closes in, we will take a look at the players and teams who will take part in it. Now that FIBA Asia has officially released the rosters on the tournament’s official micro-site, I can get down to making proper team-by-team previews, but before even starting that I have to finish this.

In this last in a 6-part series, I will put the spotlight on the stars from East Asia who are expected to be in peak form when the basketball version of Thrilla in Manila commences. These are Yi Jianlian, Cho Sung-Min, Kosuke Takeuchi, and Lin Chih-Chieh. .

I hope that at the end of this series, readers of Rappler and fans of Asian hoops will be more enlightened, and be even more excited for the 2013 FIBA Asia Men’s Championships.

Here we go.

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Yi Jianlian, China

Specs: 7’0″, 26 years old
Current Club: Guangdong Southern Tigers (CBA)
Been in National Team Since: 2004
Latest Tournament & Achievement: Led Guangdong to the CBA title, defeating Shandong in the Championship Series. He averaged 24.6ppg, 10.5rpg, 1.7bpg, and 1.4spg while shooting 57.4% from the field.

Yi is the heir apparent to Yao Ming as the main man for the Chinese red machine. At 26, he still has maybe 3 or even 4 good FIBA Asia tournaments ahead of him, but I don’t think he’s willing to wait for those before he makes his mark.

With China hoping to assert its supremacy in the region, the onus is on Yi to anchor the middle for this team. Though his natural position is PF, I think coach Giannakis will be forced to play him at the slot especially against the faster teams. This is especially applicable this year because a trio of young bigs will surround Yi – Wang Zhelin, Li Muhao, and Li Xiaoxu. All three of those guys are 23 or younger and this will be their first taste of FIBA Asia seniors play. It would be interesting to see Yi play alongside any of those guys, but the reality is he will probably get more burn alongside 6’9″ Zhou Peng, who at least already played in the 2012 London Olympics.

It will be very interesting to see how Yi will be played by Giannakis, especially considering the Chinese will play Iran and South Korea in round 1. Yi’s quickness will be an advantage against Hamed Haddadi and Asghar Kardoust of IRI, while he should be stronger than any of KOR’s big men. Yi should be a dominant force throughout the whole tournament, but whether that will be enough for the Chinese to defend their title is another thing altogether.

Cho Sung-Min, South Korea

Specs: 6’6″, 30 years old
Current Club: Busan KT Sonic Boom (KBL)
Been in National Team Since: 2004
Latest Tournament & Achievement: Helped Korea to third place in the 2013 William Jones Cup, finishing behind Iran and Taiwan A. He led the team in scoring with 11.3ppg, hitting nearly 2 triples per game and connecting from downtown with a 42% clip.

Filipinos might remember Cho as the guy who killed Gilas in the last five minutes of the bronze medal game in 2011. He is definitely one of the streakiest and deadliest shooters in all of Asia, alongside other greats like CHN’s Wang Shipeng, JPN’s Kosuke Kanamaru & KJ Matsui, IRI’s Hamed Afagh, and TPE’s Lin Chih-Chieh.

Even now with coach Yoo Jae-Hak’s penchant to focus on a high pick-and-roll, Cho shouldn’t have trouble finding himself open for his threes. He will also be a headache defensively, as he is quick enough to follow opposing ball-handlers and has enough size to disrupt passing lanes, especially with Korea expected to utilize the fullcourt press.

Despite being tall enough to play small forward for most teams, Cho will probably alternate more at the two-guard position with speedster Kim Sun-Hyung. The two have very different games (Kim is a slasher), and it will be interesting to see how coach Yoo balances their skills.

Kosuke Takeuchi, Japan

Specs: 6’9″, 28 years old
Current Club: Toyota Alvark (JBL)
Been in National Team Since: 2004
Latest Achievement: Led Japan to a bronze medal finish in the 2013 East Asia Basketball Championships.
Latest Tournament: Played for Japan in the 2013 William Jones Cup, where they finished in a tie for last place with Taiwan B. Takeuchi averaged 13.9ppg, 8.5rpg, and 1.0spg.

When Kosuke first played for the senior Japanese NT as a fresh 19-year old, he, along with twin brother Joji, was labeled as the future of Japanese hoops. At 28 years old, that promised future has finally caught up with him, and he is tagged to lead Team Hayabusa to a possible berth in the 2014 World Cup. It will be tough, however, since much of the team’s core is no longer around (veterans Takumi Ishizaki and Takuya Kawamura are focusing on their overseas careers for instance) and Joji, for the first time ever, won’t be around to watch his twin’s back.

Takeuchi and the Japanese were impressive in last year’s FIBA Asia Cup, though, going all the way to the Finals before losing by just two points to the Iranians. The roster of Japan for Manila will be very similar to that team’s lineup, and it will be very interesting to see if they can duplicate their deep run, especially since the odds will be stacked against them in rounds 1 and 2.

One big difference for the Manila tournament, when compared to the Japs’ campaign in the 2013 East Asia tourney and the Jones Cup, is Kosuke will play alongside JR Sakuragi up front. This means Kosuke can slide down to PF and he won’t have to guard the opposing team’s top inside operators. With Sakuragi at the slot, Kosuke can more easily spot up from the midrange or cut to the open spaces. Needless to say, Takeuchi will be the barometer of Japan’s performance in the 2013 FIBA Asia tournament.

Lin Chih-Chieh, Chinese Taipei

Specs: 6’4″, 31 years old
Current Club: Zhejiang Guangsha Lions (CBA)
Been in National Team Since: 2001
Latest Tournament & Achievement: Led Taiwan A to second place in the 2013 William Jones Cup. He averaged 16.3ppg, 3.8rpg, 2.7apg, and 1.0spg while shooting 34% from downtown and making nearly 2 treys per outing.

Lin is coming off a great performance in the Jones Cup, and that momentum should serve him well as he tries to lead Taiwan to its best FIBA Asia finish in decades. He is one of the continent’s top wing players because he possesses a great balance between speed and shooting, and we can count on him using both to full effect in Manila.

This is more so because, finally, the Taiwanese have a center who should be able to consistently dominate at the low block – Quincy Davis. With Davis and frontline partner Tseng Wen-Ting expected to attract a lot of attention down low, the wings and lanes should open things up for Lin. I actually expect him to average not lower than 13 points in the tournament.

Of course, he will have his work cut out for him at the defensive end, with other top wingmen waiting for him in rounds 1 and 2. Gilas has a few guards and forwards who can really give Lin trouble, while the wing players of Qatar and Japan definitely won’t be pushovers as well. But, by far, Lin is expected to be maybe one of the top 10 players in the whole tournament (counting the naturalized players already), and it would be a big surprise if he doesn’t lead Taiwan to at least the quarterfinals.

#parasabayan – Rappler.com

Enzo Flojo is one of the closest followers of the Philippine National Basketball Team. He is a self-proclaimed Asian Basketball hoop nut, and he doubts if anyone knows as much as he does about the best players in this corner of the world. He maintains a nationally-recognized basketball blog (HoopNut.com), and he hopes you can pester him on Twitter — @hoopnut.