For a few days this past summer Ngombo was a hot topic in basketball circles. Less than a week before the NBA draft his name popped up in the draft chatter for the first time. In a world where the top international prospects are identified by the age of 15, Ngombo’s rise was a surprise to all. But more surprising than his emergence and selection at #57 by the Mavericks (later to be traded to the Trailblazers and then to the Wolves) was the age debate that arose immediately following the draft. Across the internet there were discrepancies about his date of birth, with some sites listing him as a 1984 birthday and others as a 1989 birthday. A number of articles broached this subject, producing strong reactions from Ngombo’s people and the Timberwolves. It is interesting to look at his profile on the NBA’s site, where he is the only draftee without a date of birth listed. With the lockout taking over the NBA news coverage, Ngombo’s story quickly faded from public discussion. So where has he been over the past six months?

Not surprisingly Ngombo is not playing with Minnesota at this time. He is in fact right where he was before he became a web search sensation, Qatar. As I reported earlier, Ngombo starred in a three team tournament in late August against Lebanon and Syria. The event was a tune-up before the FIBA Asia Championships held in China in September. Things unraveled for Qatar and Ngombo before the Championship as five of the eleven members of the team were deemed ineligible because of their paperwork. Ngombo was among these five, so was unable to play in the tournament. Qatar dropped from a favorite to a bottom tier team and Ngombo lost his chance to play on the world stage.

It is unclear whether or not the Ngombo’s “paperwork” issues have been cleared up at this point, but he was able to play in the Pan Arab Games held in Doha in December as it was not a FIBA-sanctioned event. His performance over the seven games was up and down, but he ended on a high note with a 27 point and 12 rebound performance leading Qatar to victory over Jordan. Despite averaging only 13 points and 9 rebounds for the tournament Targuy Alban (yes, another variation of his name appeared) took home the MVP award.

It is doubtful that Ngombo will ever make it over to the US to play, but I think the CBA is not out of the question. As each of the previous season’s bottom four teams is allowed an Asian import one would think that Ngombo would be highly sought after by Chinese clubs. While perhaps he is not an NBA quality wing, he would be an effective all-around player in China. I will make sure to update everyone again in another six months or so.

The past two weeks have seen all sorts of developments in the Asian basketball world. Unfortunately real life/real job sometimes get in the way of my posting. So I will throw out a few bullet points of the things I have found most interesting over the past two weeks.

• Everyone needs to make sure to get over to NiuBall to keep up with the developments in China. Earl Clark and Wilson Chandler have already jumped to China and Starbury finally landed in the place he wants to be. Who is coming next?
• A few days ago I had a big spike in hits related to Chris Banchero. This happens once or twice a month whenever a new rumor about Chris is floated on the Filipino basketball forums. In early August it was reported that Banchero had a deal with the new San Miguel ASEAN Basketball League franchise. Nothing more had been said about this until this past week when Chris' name was mentioned in an article discussing the future of the SMART Gilas team. With so many of their players being selected in last week's draft SMART Gilas is actively looking to restock their talent pool. Neither of these two rumors has been confirmed at this point. I will of course update immediately when I hear anything definite.
• Targuy/Tanguy/Teddy Ngombo made a big splash this past weekend at a three team invitiational event in Qatar. You may remember Ngombo from this past June's NBA Draft. Qatar came out with the "championship" defeating both Lebanon and Syria. Ngombo was the star of the weekend posting the highest scoring average (19.8) and the fourth highest rebounding average (6.0). Full stats for the event can be found here. Unfortunately, as with much of Ngombo's career, I can not find any video of the event.
• Most people were unaware that the 4th annual Thailand Open for basketball took place over the past two weeks. Hi-Tech once again retained their crown, this time led by the familiar face of Antoine Broxsie (Singapore Siglap, Satria Muda, bj league). In the 'Imports in Asia' section I have pieced together most of the names of the import players in this year's tournament. Following this tournament is the hardest task of the year on my annual calendar as there is nothing published in English. Google translate, Facebook stalking, and a little luck are the only way to piece everything together. And just in case you want video proof, here is a brawl that broke out during the Finals:

Taiwan was buzzing last week with the arrival of King James in town. He ran a couple of clinics and posed for pictures all over town, but nothing has received the buzz of this youtube clip. Unfortunately, I was slow on posting this and Yahoo already put it up. My favorite part of the video is watching the Taiwanese players and their utter lack of understanding that they are supposed to let LeBron do anything he wants to do. 

After five days of action we have passed the half-way point of the tournament. I have been able to see all the teams play more than once now, so I feel comfortable talking about the squads beyond a recitation of box scores (way to go Asia-basket). If you are interested in box score numbers you can find those on this link.

In years past the William Jones Cup has been a mixed bag of teams in terms of talent level, usually including some ‘B’ teams and some club teams from Australia or the US. While there is still a disparity in talent level between the teams this year, almost all of the teams have brought their ‘A’ squad in preparation for the FIBA Asia Championship coming up at the end of September (Japan being the notable exception). There have been some great games and some strong performances by teams and players alike. This is by far the best collection of teams I have seen in my five years of watching this event.

After five days the standings are as follow:

1) South Korea 5-0
2) Taiwan 4-1
3) Jordan 3-2
3) Philippines (Smart Gilas) 3-2
3) Iran 3-2
4) Japan 2-3
5) UAE 0-5
5) Malaysia 0-5

While South Korea sits at the top of the leaderboard at this time with a perfect record, I cannot say unequivocally that they are the best squad here. And that is not necessarily a knock on South Korea. What South Korea has shown is that they play with a consistency that is rare among Asian national teams.

Perhaps because life is busy I will take the easy way out and throw out a few observations that I have made during the tournament so far.

1)      Marcus Douthit is the best big man playing for an Asian national team. This statement probably will anger some other fans. Koreans will argue that Ha Seung-Jin is the best, but seeing his flat-footed performance against Iran showed how glaring a weakness his lack of athleticism is. Hamed Haddadi from Iran is usually discussed as the best big man from Asia. Haddadi is massive, and a force inside, but Douthit showed in their match-up how much of a liability Haddadi’s lack of quickness is. When Haddadi is on the floor, he gets points in the paint, but in turn clogs up his team’s offensive movements. While I am a fan of Taiwan’s Tseng Wen-ting, he just do not have the strength to handle a player of Douthit or Haddadi’s size in the post. For the teams that are not here, Lebanon has added Loren Woods, and China has Yi Jianlian and Wang Zhizhi. Woods is solid, but is not an intimidating factor on the offensive end. Wang is getting old, and Yi struggles to guard stronger players (well-documented during his NBA career). If Douthit plays to the level he has shown against Taiwan and Iran, the competition better take notice.

2)      Japanese basketball is going through a period of uncertainty and transition that extends beyond the JBL and bj league debacle. While there are many big name players not on the Jones Cup squad, it is hard to rationalize why you would be testing out young players one month before the FIBA Asia Championships. Every other team in this event is playing as close to full strength as they possibly can.

3)      Asia Basketball Update favorite Jet Chang can score at the international level. I have heard people mention that they are unsure how his skills translate outside of the DII world. Jet has received increasing in each game, culminating in his performance last night against the UAE. Taiwan was extremely sluggish after their emotional victory over Jordan the night before, but Jet poured in 20 points in the second half to spark the Taiwanese squad. In 21 minutes of action per game he is averaging 13.8 points.

4)      Of the nine best teams in the region only China, Lebanon, and Qatar are not here. Unfortunately for Iran, Taiwan, and Qatar, their grouping at the Asia Championship will prevent one of the teams from progressing to the Quarterfinal round. I predict the only drama over the first few days of that tournament will be in Group B.

5)      It may not be a real FIBA event, but after watching the drama in Jordan-Taiwan game it is clear that the regional rivalries are really heating up. Watching Zaid Abbas kick a chair 20 feet and the look of fear in the Taiwanese referee’s eyes was the highlight of the tournament for me so far!

Four more days of action coming up. Hopefully over the weekend I can take some time to edit some video clips to share some of the action with you.

Final Random Thought: There are three BYU-Hawaii alum playing in this tournament (Jet Chang, Wu Tai-hao, and Asi Taulava). If Yuta Tabuse was here it would be four. Pretty amazing the connections the Seasiders have developed in the region.

A few days ago Ed Odeven of the Japan Times floated the rumor that Lance Allred was close to signing with the Kyoto Hannaryz for next season. Once again Odeven was spot on, as I was able to confirm with Allred that in fact he has now officially signed the contract.

Allred had a short stint with the Cavs in 2008, and has played parts of five season in the D-League with Idaho and Utah. Internationally, Allred has played for teams in France, Italy, and New Zealand. From what I can tell, his only experience in Asia was when he played with a D-League All-Star team that toured China in 2008. 


Allred's signing is exciting news on multiple levels. First, this is big news for the bj league, as Allred is the biggest name to sign with a league team so far this off-season. Allred will be the fourth player with an NBA resume to play in the bj league following Abdul-Rauf, Satterfield, and Swift. As I discussed last season when following Jeremy Tyler, the bj league has the potential to be the most exciting and competitive league in Asia as teams are allowed three import players on the floor at any given time. The key is the bj league needs to get top-notch imports. Allred is such a player. This is also great news for Kyoto as they make a big splash with their first import signing of the off-season. Kyoto ended last season in the middle of the pack of the highly competitive Western Conference. At this early date Allred is the best big man in the league. If Kyoto is able to add some more strong imports they will be in good shape this season. The fact that Allred is a published author means there is a chance that a player will finally document playing ball in Asia.

Finally, on a personal note, I am beyond thrilled that Allred will be in my region of the world this season. In December 2003 I returned back to the US after two years in Japan. During that time I was unable to watch or play much basketball. The first game I saw in person was Weber State visiting BYU. While BYU handled the Wildcats pretty easily, the best part of the game was watching Weber State's surprisingly good, and at that point unknown, big man Lance Allred go head-to-head with Rafael Araujo. Allred scored 15 points that night despite constant double-teams. It was fun to be back in the States and watching basketball after two years away from the game. The next year Allred absolutely destroyed BYU inside with 27 points and 18 rebounds.

The Miri Firehorse taking the title in their first season in the NBL in what ended up being a very controversial final game. True to form the referees exerted control over the game early, calling lots of fouls early. This affected Perak most as star import Chris Kuete had to sit early with three fouls. Anthony Johnson stepped in and proved to be the star again for Miri as he took advantage of Kuete's absence to draw numerous fouls and get to the line 13 times during the game. Johnson ended with a team-high 23 points and 15 rebounds. 

As any basketball fan knows, the best NBA action this week was over here in Asia as a group of eight NBA players came to play two exhibition games. Before the NBA guys arrived in the Philippines someone on Twitter posed the question of what Derrick Williams was doing on the team. At first glance he does not fit in. The other players are established NBA veterans with built in fan appeal (Harden's beard makes him a superstar in my book). But the connection that explains his involvement is very simple: Rob Pelinka. Williams shares the same agent as Kobe, Fisher, and Harden. Because I am on vacation though, I had the free time to continue thinking about Williams inclusion on the team. It was a brilliant move on Pelinka's part to have Williams play with these other stars, as it has helped Williams establish his personal image and brand. During most regular years incoming rookies are able to do this through promotional appearances in their new communities and by playing in the summer league. Rookies this year do not have those opportunities because of the lockout.

I thought it would be interesting to track Williams popularity during his trip to the Philippines by looking at his Twitter account and the growth in his number of Followers during the trip. By then comparing that growth to the growth in the number of Followers for other rookies during the same time period we can see the impact that the immediate impact that the Philippines trip had on Williams' popularity and his personal brand.

When I first checked Williams' profile about two hours before he arrived in the Philippines he had 37,668 Followers. At the time this post is going up 72 hours later Williams has 43,655 Followers. That is a 16% growth in only three days. During that same time period other first round picks have added between 100 and 300 Followers. To put it in other terms, Williams added at least 20 times more Followers during his stay in the Philippines than he would have if he had stayed at home. Williams name is now known by basketball fans across the Philippines. I would say Pelinka has put Williams in a nice position for future endorsement opportunities in this basketball-crazed country.

And because I am on vacation here are two fun little lists:

Top Ten Picks and Twitter Following
1) Kyrie Irving - 22,829
2) Derrick Williams - 43,655
3) Enes Kanter - 13,326
4) Tristan Thompson - 17,124
5) Jonas Valanciunas - NA
6) Jan Vesely - NA
7) Bismack Biyombo - NA
8) Brandon Knight - 44,004
9) Kemba Walker - 46,447
10) Jimmer Fredette - 47,607

Why have agents not started to have their international players create Twitter accounts? Is Twitter not used as much in Europe? If all the NBA guys have Weibo accounts in China, does it not make sense for international players to get on Twitter?

If Teams Had to Pick Based on Twitter Popularity
1) Nolan Smith - 50,010 (Had a nice spike today because it is his birthday)
2) JImmer Fredette - 47,607
3) Kemba Walker - 46,447
4) Brandon Knight - 44,004
5) Derrick Williams - 43,655
6) Isaiah Thomas - 25,109
7) Kyrie Irving - 22,829
8) Kyle Singler - 22,624
9) Josh Harrellson - 22,332
10) Marcus Morris - 20,557

Interesting that a Duke guard still goes first. And Kahn goes back to his roots with the 2nd pick and takes a point guard. But the big winner of the Twitter Draft has to be Isaiah Thomas, jumping from Mr. Irrelevant to a Lottery pick.

While most people will be discussing the huge event with NBA players taking place in the Philippines I thought I would take a moment to update everyone on what is happening in the PBA as the Governor’s Cup enters its second phase. If you want a nice perspective on what the visit of all these NBA players means to the Philippines check out what Filipino basketball expert had to say on the matter on HoopSpeak Live today. http://youtu.be/bysoXuYui3U I love his disbelief that they were actually able to organize this. It is pretty remarkable actually when you think that it was only last month that half of Talk ‘N Text’s players were stranded in the Dubai airport for a day because their tickets were not booked properly!

After the initial round robin phase six of the nine teams have advanced. Powerade, Meralco, and Air21 were unable to make the cut. Powerade showed a lot of improvement behind the strong play of Chris Porter and local star Gary David, but in the end B-Meg and Rain or Shine won the tie breakers based on the head-to-head matchups. Meralco had a tough conference as their gamble to switch imports after the fourth game from Champ Oguchi to Tim Pickett (Florida State, 2nd Round pick, and CBA veteran) backfired when Pickett went down with an injury in his third appearance. Air21’s conference was miserable as they went winless, going as far as shutting down Danny Seagle for the last couple of games. Do not worry though, Alpha Bangura still got his numbers!

Now to the teams that are still playing.

#6 – Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (4-5): Arizona Reid has produced as expected, averaging over 26 points and 15 rebounds per contest. To me though, the key for Rain or Shine is going to be the play of Gabe Norwood. His shooting numbers are down this season. While the Painters have a solid cast of local players, they have no clear cut second option at this point, and I think Norwood is the best bet to step into that role. Case in point was last night’s game where Reid dropped a conference-best 41 points yet the Painters still could not pull out the victory, losing 99-98.

#5 – B-Meg Llamados (5-4): Myron Allen will step in as the third import player of this conference after Darnell Hinson’s sudden departure to deal with a custody battle in the US. I am not sold on Allen at this point. I have watched him the past two seasons in the CBA playing for Xinjiang and Shandong and have seen huge inconsistency in his game. He will score 25 one game and then disappear the next. For B-Meg he will need to drive aggressively and create shots for his teammates. If Allen starts to settle for the 3 his team is in real trouble as he is a very poor shooter. The key is Allen realizing that B-Meg does not need their import to score 30 a game, but instead be a “glue-guy” and help Yap, Simon, and Devance play to their potential.

#4 – Alaska Aces (5-4): I did not like the signing of Jason Forte at the beginning of the conference, and I am still no convinced he was the best player available for the job, but Alaska has played well above expectations this conference. Forte and Thoss on the interior and Tenorio and Baguio on the perimeter makes them one of the most balanced teams. I still do not trust Forte as a shot creator, so one of the local players will need to step up during clutch time.

#3 – Petron Blaze Boosters (5-3): The Boosters had a tough break when Jeremy Wise went down with a knee injury, but his replacement, former Atlanta Hawk and seasoned international Anthony Grundy showed in his first outing that he can produce in the PBA. While he will not need to score 30 every game, like he did against Powerade, the Boosters are going to need him to score, especially from the outside. Alex Cabagnot is arguably the best pure point guard this conference, so playmaking and ball distribution are taken care of. With Santos and Al-Hussaini scoring in the interior, Grundy will need to shoot the 35% from behind the arc that he has on his previous stops.

#2 – Barnagay Ginebra Kings (5-3): Curtis Stinson’s PBA tenure was cut short by injury, but no loss for the Kings as they were able to pick up fellow D-Leaguer Donald Sloan to fill his spot. While Sloan is not the playmaker Stinson is, he is a more all-around scorer and a better shooter. Ginebra is stacked on the perimeter, but has no presence inside whatsoever. Sloan will have to keep rebounding at the level he has so far (8 a game) to help his team shore up the interior

#1 – Tropang Talk ‘N Texters (7-2): After 8 games with Maurice Baker and despite a 1st place standing TNT is going to the man they initially wanted for this conference: Scottie Reynolds. Reynolds will make this already explosive team even more so. In the last game of the round robin TNT dropped 140 points on Air21, and in the first game of the second phase they scored 103 on the tough defense of Alaska. TNT is the favorite, so everyone will be gunning for them, but their team is loaded enough to handle the challenge.

To show the quality of the imports this conference a quick tally regarding the pedigree of the import players is helpful. Of the 16 import players this conference 3 played in the NBA, 11 in the D-League, and the other two were D1 ballers. Not too many leagues can match those numbers in their import players.

If you have never watched a PBA game you are missing out on some real excitement. www.pba.ph has the full schedule and http://streampinoy.info/rpn-solar-pba-games-live-streaming.html has almost all of the games streaming.

This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.