EXCITEMENT heightens in the 28th FIBA Asia Men’s Basketball Championship in Changsa, Hunan province in the People’s Republic of China with various scenarios for Team Pilipinas and the other teams still in the hunt for a quarterfinal berth going into today’s final playdate of the second-round competitions.
Today’s six-game bill features Palestine vs. defending FIBA Asia titlist Islamic Republic of Iran (9:30 a.m.), Japan vs. Hong Kong (11:45 a.m.), and the Philippines vs. India (2:30 p.m.) in Group E; and Lebanon vs. Jordan (4:45 p.m.), China vs. Qatar (7:30 p.m.), and South Korea vs. Kazakhstan (9:30 p.m.) in Group F.
The team standings in the two-group second round (as of 5 p.m. yesterday) are as follows:
Group E – Philippines (3-1), Iran (3-1), India (2-2), Japan (2-2), Palestine (2-2) and Hong Kong (0-4).
Group F – China (3-0), South Korea (2-1), Qatar (2-1), Lebanon (1-2), Jordan (1-2) and Kazakhstan (0-3).
The Philippines handed Iran its first loss in five games in the tournament with a morale-boosting 87-73 victory yesterday for a share of the Group E leadership at 3-1; India scored a come-from-behind 76-71 decision over Hong Kong; and Japan outlasted Palestine, 74-67, in a crucial Group E duel. In Group F, Qatar tangled with South
Korea, China staked its unbeaten record against Lebanon and Jordan (which upset Qatar, 84-73, Sunday night) duked it out with Kazakhstan.
In the classification round (13-16 final rankings), Chinese-Taipei, a major disappointment in the tournament, and Kuwait battled for 13th place and Malaysia and Singapore clashed for 15th place. Earlier, Chinese-Taipei crushed Singapore, 111-65, and Kuwait shellacked Malaysia, 83-61, to advance to the 13th-place contest.
The win over Iran clinched a quarterfinal berth for the Philippines and somewhat made up its 75-73 loss to FIBA-unranked and first-time FIBA Asia Championship participant Palestine on the opening day of the 16-nation biennial tournament.
Bowing to Palestine was not simply a game loss as it also had huge repercussions in our subsequent performances down the road where only the tournament winner punches an automatic ticket to the 12-team men’s basketball cast in the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil next year.
(If it’s any consolation, the second-, third- and fourth placers will be eligible to compete in the three-venue special Olympic qualifying tournaments in July next year where three wildcard berths will be available for the also-rans from FIBA Americas, EuroBasket and AfroBasket plus Oceania runner-up New Zealand as well).
The repercussions: The preliminary-round result of the Palestine-Philippines game was carried over to the second round, thus immediately giving the Palestinians a one-game edge over the Filipinos). And if somehow Palestine and PH emerge with identical win-loss records in the second round, the former also would enjoy a higher ranking under the winner-over-the-other rule.
Under the current circumstances, Team Pilipinas still needs to beat India today not only to clinch the No. 1 seed in Group B but also avoid falling into a tie with the Indians, who followed up their 73-70 upset of Palestine at the start of the second round last Sunday with a close win over Hong Kong yesterday to even their record at 2-2.
A PH loss to India means both squads will have identical 3-2 records and the Indians will have a higher ranking than the Filipinos in Group E under the winner-over-the-other rule.
Palestine may yet produce a three-way logjam with Gilas and India with an upset win over Iran today.
In a three-way deadlock, the quotient system (plus/minus) will apply among the teams involved. In such a scenario, the Filipinos will be at a terrible disadvantage (having already lost by two points to Palestine earlier and more in case of a defeat to India).
In the aforementioned scenario, the Philippines will still gain a quarterfinal berth but land only fourth in Group E.
The single-elimination quarterfinals on October 1 (September 30 is a rest day) will feature the following pairings: E1 vs. F4 and F2 vs. E3 in one bracket and F1 vs. E4 and E2 vs. F3 in the other.
In the knockout semifinals on October 2, the E1-F4 winner will face the F2-E3 winner while the F1-E4 winner will meet the E2-F3 winner.
The semifinal victors will gun for the FIBA Asia title on October 3 and the automatic Olympic berth that goes with it. A third-place game will precede the finals on the same day along with a pair of classification games (for 5th place and for 7th place).
If the Philippines is among the top two in Group E, it will take on a “weaker” foe in Jordan, Lebanon or Qatar during the quarterfinals. On the other hand, should the Filipinos rank third or fourth in their group, they would have the unenviable task of facing China or South Korea in the quarters.
To enter the semifinals, let alone the finals, will take more herculean efforts by coach Tab Baldwin’s charges. Wish more luck for our boys.