The FIBA Asia Championship 2013 has now entered the do-or-die stage after six tough days of preliminary round basketball. From the field of 15 teams coming from different parts of Asia, the tournament has already narrowed down to only eight contenders, all of them worthy to represent the continent in the FIBA World Cup next year.
After over a decade of dormancy, the Philippines has proven to everybody they are back to reclaim their old glory as the continent's finest basketball country. Bolstered by a raucous home crowd, the Philippines delivered scintillating victories against the top teams in Asia, such as Japan, Qatar, and Jordan.
Despite blowing a 13-point fourth quarter lead in a loss to Chinese Taipei, the Filipinos remained composed and put up a strong performance in their next two games. As a result, the Philippines took the top spot of Group E thanks to Qatar's gutsy 71-68 win over the previously undefeated Chinese Taipei on the final day of the second elimination round.
Facing the Philippines in the quarterfinal round will be Kazakhstan, who found themselves overwhelmed in the second round by Iran, South Korea and China after topping Group D. The Filipinos will be pinning their hope on another dominant performance by naturalized center and former NBA draftee Marcus Douthit while the Kazakhs will be banking on their naturalized point guard Jerry Jamar Johnson.
In the other quarterfinal pairing, 15-time Asian champion China will try to avoid a disaster as they gun for a semis seat against rival Chinese Taipei. Former NBA journeyman Yi Jianlian and Wang Zhizhi are expected to keep the Chinese flag afloat despite bowing out to South Korea and Iran in the preliminary rounds. Chinese Taipei, on the other hand, will be leaning on their super efficient three-point shooting to keep them in prime position to pull off a big upset.
Iran and Jordan are also pitted in a rematch of a thrilling quarterfinal two years ago in Wuhan, China. Iran looks to avenge their narrow loss to Jordan, who will be playing this time without their key stars Sam Daghlas and Rasheim Wright. Meanwhile, the Iranians are expected to pound the ball inside, using former Memphis Grizzlies center Hamed Haddadi as their primary offensive option.
Finally, the last elite eight battle will feature South Korea and Qatar, who is powered by former Washington Wizards forward Jarvis Hayes. The former 10th overall pick has been the top scorer in the tournament, averaging at least 18 points per ball game. Hayes will have solid veteran support from Yasseen Musa and Erfan Ali Saeed while the Koreans will field a formidable unit of homegrown players from their country.
Schedule (Friday New York Time) and Live Streaming
Iran vs. Jordan (3:00 a.m) / Chinese Taipei vs. China (5:45 a.m) / Philippines vs. Kazakhstan (8:30 a.m) / South Korea vs. Qatar (10:30 a.m)
Live Streaming is available on FIBA Live Basketball TV and IBT Sports. Running scores and statistics is available on FIBA Asia Championship 2013 official website.