Serving FIBA suspension

THE People’s Republic of China is back on the men’s basketball throne in the Asian Games.
The Chinese defeated the Islamic Republic of Iran, 84-72, in the men’s basketball gold-medal game in the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta/Palembang, Indonesia to get back the crown they surrendered eight years ago.
China, which trailed by as much as 16 points in the first half, was bannered by Abudushalamu Abudurexiti’s 20 points. Shuo Fang and Rui Zhao each collected 16 markers and Houston Rockets center Zhou Qi registered a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Iran, which lost in the gold-medal game for a second consecutive time following its 79-77 finals setback to the South Koreans during the 2014 Incheon Asiad, got 27 points and 10 boards from ex-NBA center Hamed Ehdadi.
Dethroned 2014 titlist South Korea whipped Chinese-Taipei, 89-81, for the bronze medal.
China failed to make it to the Final Four in the Incheon Asiad. Japan beat Kazakhstan, 76-72, in the bronze-medal game that year.
Before now, China last copped the Asiad men’s gold during the 2010 Guangzhou Games, whipping South Korea, 77-71, in the finals.
Meanwhile, the Philippines improved its seventh-place finish four years ago, routing Syria, 109-55, for fifth place behind Fil-Am Jordan Clarkson of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who chalked up 29 points, and Fil-German Christian Standhardinger, who secured a double-double with 27 points and 15 rebounds.
The Filipinos, who lost to China, 82-80, during the preliminary round and fell to South Korea, 91-82, in the knockout quarterfinal, finished with a 3-2 record overall.
Clarkson averaged 26 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in four appearances (he missed the first game against Kazakhstan) and fattened his bank account by $609,756. Japan shellacked host Indonesia, 84-66, to place seventh.
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China also regained the women’s basketball gold in the Asiad, exacting revenge against South Korea with a 71-65 victory in the finals.
During the 2014 Asiad in Incheon, South Korea, the host team dethroned China with a 70-64 decision.
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Expectedly, the People’s Republic of China dominated the 2018 Asian Games, romping away with the most gold medals (132) and topping the overall medal tally (289).
The Mainland Chinese finished with 132 golds, 92 silvers and 65 bronzes.
Japan ranked a distant second with a count of 75-56-74 for 205 medals. South Korea was a far third at 49-58-70 for 177 medals.
Host Indonesia finished fourth with 98 medals at 31-24-43, and Uzbekistan placed fifth with 21-24-25 for a total of 70.
Rounding out the top 10 in the Asiad medal standings were 6-Islamic Republic of Iran (20-20-22=62), 7-Chinese-Taipei (17-19-31=67), 8-India (15-24-30=69), 9-Kazakhstan (15-17-44=76) and 10-North Korea (12-12-13=37).
The Philippines placed 19th overall in the medal tally with four golds, two silvers and 15 bronzes for a total medal harvest of 21.
Host Indonesia topped all Southeast Asian nations with an overall fourth ranking. In addition to the Indons, Thailand (12th, 11-16-46=73)), Malaysia (14th, 7-13-16=36), Vietnam (17th, 4-16-18=38)) and Singapore (18th, 4-4-14=22) also finished ahead of the Philippines in the medal race.
The rankings were based on the gold count.
The next quadrennial Asiad will be held in Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China in September 2022.
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The fourth window of the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifying tournaments in every zone is set in September.
The Philippines owns a 4-2 record but is plagued by suspension to 10 players, including naturalized player Andray Blatche, who is out for three FIBA-sanctioned games for his role in the brawl-marred World Cup-qualifying third-window contest between eventual winner Australia and the Philippines on July 2, 2018 at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
I hate to choose one between guard Stanley Pringle and center Christian Standhardinger as our naturalized player for the World Cup qualifying games against Iran (road, September 13) and Qatar (home, closed door, September 17).
But point a gun at my head and I will take Standhardinger. There’s no other player near his basketball IQ at his size and aggressiveness around the paint as he fears no one as tall as 7-2.
Paul Lee can approximate Pringle’s play but then Pringle is really a better version.
This is simply one man’s opinion.
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Talking about FIBA suspensions, this got me thinking. Can a naturalized player under suspension like Blatche be replaced by another in a team’s roster?
My thinking is that a player who has been slapped with a FIBA suspension should be included in a team’s lineup to be able to serve his suspension.
The same goes for a suspended coach. Otherwise, the suspension is useless.
The FIBA may allow teams to stagger the suspension of players. Example: No more than two players to serve their suspension at one given game. Then in the next game, another two players that have yet to serve their suspension …. down the line.
The only way to avoid serving a FIBA suspension is not to play in international games — or simply retire from international commitment. One of our suspended players (Calvin Abueva) is out for six games — meaning he has to be on the roster for the fourth, fifth and sixth windows of two games each in the World Cup qualifiers set for September and November this year and February in 2019.
In the NBA, a player can only start serving a suspension once he is healthy (assuming he was injured at the time the suspension was handed down).
No circumvention, please.