The 19th Asian Games have begun! Athletes from all over Asia have gathered in Hangzhou, China, to represent their countries and aspire to become Asia’s best.
One of the most popular events at the Asian Games is the men’s basketball tournament. Hosts China are the defending champions and have dominated this event, having garnered eight gold medals, the most in the tournament’s history.
With that being said, all of the top-16-ranked nations in the continent are on the prowl and hungry to write their own history and etch their legacy in Asian basketball.
To keep you in the loop, here are the latest news and updates on the men’s basketball tournament courtesy of SBOTOP.
Lebanon withdraws from the Asian games men’s basketball
The Arakji-led basketball team officially withdrew from the 19th Asian Games men’s basketball tournament. Lebanon are having some issues with their players dealing with injuries, which forced them to pull out from the tournament.
Lebanon had a decent outing during the FIBA Basketball World Cup last month. They opened their campaign with a tone-setting 94-84 victory over Cote d’Ivoire. Amir Saoud had a great outing with a game-high 29 points, eight assists, and five rebounds.
Their campaign was unfortunately cut short when a formidable French team knocked them out of the tournament. Lebanon settled on gaining international basketball experience and a third-round exit.
It has been made clear that Lebanon is a redoubtable team, especially against fellow Asian countries. It’s such a shame that fans and enthusiasts won’t be able to see Lebanon’s brand of basketball in the Asian games this year.
Hong Kong get late call-up
The Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee removed the tournament’s preliminary round, which leaves countries that are not in the top 16 teams in the Asian rankings from participating in the competition.
“They said that it would be difficult to organise qualifying games for basketball since Hangzhou Sports Park Gymnasium was decided to be the backup venue for the opening and closing ceremonies,” Raffi Kassabian stated, who is the sports and competitions manager for basketball’s governing body in Asia.
One of the handful of teams that didn’t make the cut is Hong Kong, but it seems like their stars have aligned and the basketball gods have given them a shot at redemption. Due to Lebanon’s last-minute withdrawal, there is an open spot in a stacked Group B, and Hong Kong is primed to take it.
The Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC) had stated that the country will be taking Lebanon’s spot and participate in the Asian Games men’s basketball tournament. Hong Kong will be grouped with Chinese Taipei, Mongolia, and hosts China.
Even though they were a late addition to the tournament, Hong Kong players remain poised and are ready to go. “I’m not too worried about the form and fitness of the players as the domestic Senior Shield competition just finished last week and the players kept training for that.” Hong Kong captain Lee Ki said.
Philippines make last minute roster change
Gilas Pilipinas had just finalised their lineup for the Hangzhou Asian Games, days before the start of the tournament.
Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Bambol Tolentino has been lobbying for some players to be inserted in the lineup for quite some time now. But the organisers stand firm, and even after a valiant effort from Tolentino, the Philippine men’s basketball team will suit up without Jason Perkins, Terrence Romeo, Calvin Abueva, and Moala Tautuaa.
Instead, head coach Tim Cone and the rest of the team will roll out in Hangzhou with Chris Ross, CJ Perez, Arvin Tolentino, and Kevin Alas.
During their final practice, the team tried their best to gel with one another, build much-needed chemistry for a deep run in Hangzhou, and produce strong Asian Games 2023 results. Tim Cone stated, “We took the ‘new guys’ and really tried to focus on catching them up today, putting them through the foundational work that they missed at the beginning of our Inspire camp. So that’s what we tried to do today.”.
The Philippines will be bunched up with Jordan, Bahrain, and Thailand in Group C of the Asiad. Among the countries in the group, Jordan will be the Philippines’ biggest hurdle. Jordan had a meaningful campaign during the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. They were led by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who had a resurgence by averaging 23.6 points in the competition.
Gilas, on the other hand, will feature an almost entirely different lineup from their FIBA World Cup campaign, which would likely affect their Asian Games 2023 odds. Some World Cup standouts like Jordan Clarkson, Rhenz Abando, and Dwight Ramos were ruled out of the Asian Games lineup as they were expected to fulfil their commitments with their teams in the NBA, Korean Basketball League, and Japanese B.League.
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