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.

I hope everyone has had a chance to read Dan Levin's fantastic article about Yao and the future of Chinese basketball. If not, follow this link.

I wanted to add one quick thought to the piece. Levin quotes Coach Donewald regarding the effect that the Chinese views on education have on the development of basketball players.

"Those who do play on public courts are in their 20s or older, Donewald said, reflecting Chinese society’s traditionally single-minded focus on education. That means most children spend their days and nights studying for tests, not playing pick-up games in the park or practicing in after-school programs. "

Living in China for three years, I agree 100% with Donewald assessments, but I think it is important to note that this problem is not unique to China. Korea, Japan, and Taiwan (all countries with a Confucian tradition) also lose participation in sports as children grow older. Participating in sports in any of these countries is often seen as a sign that you lack the intelligence to perform well academically, so instead you will be an athlete. No "smart" student would be able to sacrifice the two hours a day that one would practice with a sports team.

I do not know if there is any way to reconcile the two sides to this issue without a seismic shift in cultural values.

Just my two cents on a great article . . . And by the way, I disagree that the cupboard is bare for Chinese basketball. They are the best team in East Asia in all divisions and compete with Iran, Lebanon, and Jordan for every Asia-wide title. They need better guard play, but most of the world would kill for their height.

I devote very little time to Malaysian hoops on this website. Honestly, this is not out of a lack of interest, or a lack of desire, it is merely a lack of content. I check the MABA website daily, and yet have never felt inspired to comment on anything other than the Westport KL Dragons of the ASEAN Basketball League. The past two weeks though have proven to be the most exciting stretch of time for Malaysian basketball fans in recent memory because of three big events. First, Malaysia qualified for the FIBA Asian Championship! Malaysia has not been to the tournament for the past six years. The Malaysians overcame the squad from Singapore 72-64 to clinch a spot in the Olympic qualifying tournament. If history can predict the future, the Malaysians will be battling Indonesia and the teams from South Asia to stay out of the cellar.

Second, before heading over to Indonesia for two games, the NBA Legend team made a stop in Kuala Lumpur for a game and some clinics for children. From the pictures of the main event, it looks like there was a good turnout. While any basketball exposure in Malaysia is positive, this event helped spark interest in the upcoming NBL season.

NBL Malaysia kicked off its 10th season this past weekend. The league includes four teams this year, the Westport KL Dragons, the Miri Fire Horses (in Borneo), Perak Farmcochem (Northern Malaysia), and the Singapore Siglap Basketball Club. Miri and Siglap are new to the league this year. The inclusion of the Miri team was especially interesting to me as there were discussions at the end of the last ASEAN Basketball League season that the Brunei franchise would be moved to Miri. Note: For everyone who lives outside of Malaysia, Miri is a city of around 300,000 people in the Malaysian province of Sarawak that sits about 30 miles from the Brunei border.

First Weekend Results

1)      Perak Farmcochem – 3-0

2)      KL Dragons – 2-1

3)      Miri Fire Horse – 1-2

4)      Singapore Siglap – 0-3

Ranking the Import Players

According to NBL Commisioner Tan Kee Hian each team is allowed three import players but teams can only suit up two per game. At this point in time only KL has used three different import players. I have ranked the import players below based on their individual performances over the first weekend’s games.

1)      Anthony Johnson (Miri) – 24.7 ppg and 14.3 rpg. Readers of this site will remember Johnson from his recent play with Dell ASPAC in the LA Lights World Challenge. Johnson also suited up for the Philippine Patriots during the inaugural ABL season. Johnson is a high volume scorer who also loves to grab rebounds.

2)      Chris Kuete (Perak) – 22.3 ppg and 14.7 rpg. A familiar name to basketball fans in Southeast Asia. Kuete has played in both ABL seasons and has played in both Malaysia and Thailand for various teams. His scoring prowess makes him a fan favorite. He has lead his Perak squad to a 3-0 first place start.

3)      Mike Pilgrim (Miri) – 23.3 ppg and 11.7 rpg. Another ABL alum, Pilgrim played for Brunei during the league’s first season. Pilgrim plays above the rim, and seems to have created a world class highlights reel this season already.

4)      Anthony Kent (KL) – 16.3 ppg and 13 rpg. Kent played for Fort Wayne in the D League for three seasons. This is his first stint in Asia. At 6'11" he was brought in to control the interior on both sides of the floor. After three games it looks like he is doing that pretty well.

5)      Antoine Broxsie (Singapore) – 16.7 ppg and 12.7 apg. Another familiar face from the ASEAN League, but this time from Satria Muda. Broxsie was an interesting choice as the lone non-Asian import on the Singapore team. He is not a natural scorer or shot creator, but has done pretty well so far in providing solid offensive numbers. Broxsie has a bigger load to carry this season than any of the other imports.

6)      Bryson McKenzie (Perak) – 12 ppg and 15.7 rpg. Another D-League vet and teammate of former KL Dragons star Alex Hartman (with the Vancouver Volcanoes) this is McKenzie’s first job in Asia. Perak obviously is looking for him to be an interior presence on both end of the court to pair with Kuete's perimeter abilities.

7)      Waki Williams (KL) – 12.5 ppg and 10.5 rpg. Williams played his college ball at the University of Memphis and has since played in a number of countries. Probably his best stint was two seasons ago playing in the bj-league where he averaged 17 ppg.

8)      Al Vergara (Singapore) – 13ppg, 3 rpg, and 3 apg. Known around SEA as a PBA veteran and guard for the Singapore Slingers. Vergara is a crafty scorer, but struggled to get his points in two of the first three games. Overall he is averaging 13 ppg and 3 rpg.

9)      Ricardo Alonzo (KL) – 10 ppg and 4rpg. The other Filipino import, Alonzo has only suited up for one game for the Dragons. He scored 10 points and grabbed 4 rebounds but also fouled out in only 21 minutes of action.

Top Local Players

The local players have struggled for the most part up to this point. Only six different local players have scored in double figures in a game during the first six games. The key to winning this league is going to be which team’s local players step up consistently.

1)      Steven Khoo (Singapore) – His 19 point performance on Sunday was the highest scoring output for a local player so far this season. Khoo is a member of the Slingers and Singapore national squad, so it is not surprising that he is stepping up to lead the Siglap squad. He is averaging 9.3 ppg over the first three contests.

2)      Chuan Chin Wee (Perak) – A Malaysian National Team player, Chuan leads all local scorers with an average of 9.7 ppg and is the only local to score in double figures in two different contests.

3)      Batumalai Guganeswaran (KL) – Point guard for both the Malaysian National Team and the KL Dragonsin the ABL, Guganeswaran is averaging 7 ppg, but more importantly leading the league in assists at 4.3 a match.

The second round of action begins tonight in Miri. All three teams will again play each other.

In a disastrous three days the hopes that one of the three Asian teams would make a run at the U-19 FIBA World Championship were quickly put to rest. Finishing with a combined record 1-8 record in the initial group play, China, South Korea, and Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) will continue on in the “Classification Round” to determine 13th through 16th place. These three teams came in with varying levels of expectation, but in the end have all found themselves in the same place.

Before I begin the recap for each team, I must say how disappointing it is that the only games broadcast over the first three games of the tournament were of the host-country Latvian team. If FIBA’s mission is to create a world-wide competition with passionate fans they failed completely. Really, I watched online games broadcast from gyms in rural Colorado and Wyoming this year, how can FIBA (or is it Latvia) not ensure that every game is available to fans?

China

The Chinese team came in with the most confidence and the highest expectations of the three teams. With a FIBA ranking of 16, the Chinese came in expecting to get out of the preliminary stage of the tournament. Unfortunately for them, Egypt rose to the occasion to play inspired basketball against the Chinese and stole the game in double overtime. In a tournament with few other upsets, that loss ended the Chinese team’s hopes for advancing.

Individually a few of the Chinese players were able to produce solid stat lines. The most famous player on the team, Guo Ailun played sparingly in the final game, but averaged 19 ppg, 3.5 rpg, and 4.5 apg in the first two contests. Unfortunately for Guo, the 12 turnovers in those first two games take away from the impressiveness of the previous numbers. Actually, the entire Chinese squad struggled to control the ball and averaged over 18 turnovers per match during the first three days.

Along with Guo, the other bright spots for the Chinese team were the play of Zhai Xiaochuan and Wang Zirui. Zhai led the team in both scoring and rebounding posting averages of 16.3 ppg and 7.3 rpg. At 6’8” Zhai has really nice size for the Small Forward position. Wang is lesser known than some of his teammates, but showed that that should not be the case. The Zhejiang Guangsha junior team point guard finished with a well-rounded stat line of 12.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, and 3.7 apg.

South Korea

The Korean squad came in with very little press, just as you would expect for a team that was not ranked highly, but was also not considered to be one of the weakest squads (Taiwan and Tunisia filled that role). As such, the Koreans came out and shocked most people with their play over the three days. On the first day the Koreans took a lead into the last minute against the Canadians, only to squander it on turnovers and fouls.

After getting demolished by the Lithuanian boys on Day 2, the Koreans came out with the biggest upset of the tournament by defeating the Croatian team. While this win is impressive, and the Koreans should be congratulated, it needs to be noted that the Croatians sat their starting PG and C for the entire game. Korea and China will go head to head on Monday, July 4th.

Taiwan

The Taiwanese team came to the tournament marked as the “small fish” or “last man picked.” Their coach, Huang Wan-lung did nothing to dispel this when he was quoted as saying “I tell my guys let's make friends here because basketball is just a game so we need to enjoy ourselves and makes friends amongst the other players and coaches.” Somehow I do not think that the Latvian team they faced on the first day were told to have fun and make friends by their coach before the game. With no pressure on them, the Taiwanese squad lived up to expectations . . . and lost all three of their games.

The problem for the Taiwanese was truly one of size. Their average height was over 6 cm shorter than the next shortest team. It is no surprise that they had difficulty rebounding against the taller international competition. In the game against Latvia the Taiwanese were outrebounded 57-17. The Latvians were able to grab 24 offensive rebounds against their over-matched opponents. The trio of Hung Kang-chiao, Chen Ying-chun, and Hu Long-mao played relatively well showing flashes of the basketball talent there is in Taiwan. Watch for those three to make their way on to the Senior National Team in the next few years.

What’s next?

In a few hours the Koreans and Chinese will face off and the Taiwanese will go up against the Tunisian squad. While there is no way to move above 13th, we can only hope that the teams all play to their fullest potential to showcase a little of the talent and potential present here in Asia.

Sitting down to write while on vacation in Hawaii is extremely difficult. I have no idea how Chad Ford does it! I have let a lot of important things go uncovered over the past week or so, so I will try to catch you up country by country in the next few posts. I would do them all right now, but I need to get a little sleep before I watch the U-19 games!

Philippines

There is a lot of news coming out of the Filipino basketball world. First, Smart Gilas, the Filipino National Team, was able to secure a gold medal in the Southeast Asia Basketball Association (SEABA) Championships held in Jakarta, Indonesia. Despite battling numerous injuries and being without a few of their PBA stars, Smart Gilas was able to win every game handily. Once again, the Philippines proved their regional dominance.

The PBA has seen a lot of action as well. In a really cool move, the PBA is on the road this week playing in the United Arab Emirates. Home to between 300,000 and 500,000 Filipinos, the games should be packed. I have witnessed firsthand in Taiwan the passion that Filipino spectators bring to the stadium when a Filipino team comes to play. The teams should feel right at home in a loud and wild arena. The first-place Texters will look to maintain their perfect record and B-Meg today and Ginebra tomorrow.

B-Meg made the biggest personnel move of the week by sending Stefhon Hannah home and bringing in well-traveled pro Darnell Hinson. Hinson has been playing internationally for the past 7 years with stops in Latin America, Europe, and Australia. While I am honestly not familiar with Hinson, anyone who can average over 20 ppg in the Australian NBL is a pretty good ball player. Hopefully he will gel with the B-Meg squad and show a more consistent shot (shoot over 35%) than Hannah did. This move will be interesting as there are only four more games in this conference before the playoffs. Is that enough time for an import to come in and make a difference?

Indonesia

It has been a busy time for basketball in Indonesia as well. In the biggest news the Indonesian National Team was able to qualify for the FIBA Asia Basketball Championship in China in September by finishing 2nd in the SEABA tournament. The Indonesian squad were trounced twice by the Filipinos, but were able to defeat both Malaysia and Singapore to secure their place.

The NBL also hosted a visiting contingent of “NBA Legends” consisting of Cedric Ceballos, Cliff Robinson, Dale Ellis, Voshon Leonard, and others. While the list of players seems hardly “legendary” to me, the two games against the NBL Select Team brought out big crowds and increased exposure to the game and league. On the 22nd the NBL also hosted a launch party for the 2011-2012 season. At the party it was announced that games would be played in even more locations around the archipelago. With no announcement regarding import players, it looks like it will still be a purely domestic league next year.

     As Ngombo (Targuy or Tanguy) continues to make headlines regarding his age I thought I needed to post a follow up to the post I put up a few days ago. I first need to apologize for my delay in doing this, family vacation in Hawaii has just begun and it is hard to juggle writing and beach time.

    This post has three parts: some thoughts from people associated with Tanguy, a brief discussion looking a little deeper at the name and date of birth debacle, and a brief rant directed at FIBA.

    To start of with I thought that looking deeper at Ngombo's game was still needed, as the game footage of Ngombo is lacking. I felt it would be beneficial to ask people who have played with or coached Tanguy about his strengths, weaknesses, and their general thoughts on him being drafted. I received three good responses.

William Belton – Belton played a year at Wofford and then transferred to Morehouse College where he was a three year starter and All-Conference performer. He has since played in a number of semi-pro leagues in the US and a season in Qatar. He played with Ngombo in 2009 for Al-Rayyan.

“When I met Tanguy and got on the court with him, the first thing you notice is he is a very reserved guy, kind of quiet even, but what surprises you is that he really has a motor and is very strong. He has good size and length for the shooting guard position and is an excellent rebounder and spot up shooter. His reputation was that of a great defender and he routinely guarded the other teams' best player. I think his offensive game could use some more polish in terms of creating space and advanced dribble moves, but he will be an excellent finisher in any system as well as be able to guard his position in the NBA, should he come over. I was very excited to see him get drafted and his subsequent draft video being shown all over the world. He really is a humble star as well, and you wish the best to any guy who carries himself as Tanguy does.”

A.J. Guyton  - Former Indiana Hoosier star and 2nd Round Draft pick should be a recognizable name to many. He played three seasons in the NBA before starting a productive career overseas. He played in 2010 with Ngombo on the Al-Rayyan squad. He is now an Assistant Coach at Illinois Central College in Peoria.

“I thought that was Tanguy last night but I didn’t remember his real name. He has a great body, very athletic but is raw. He was a streaky shooter, but his best attributes were running the floor and blocking shots. He lacked a competitive drive, which was why he didn’t really get better. He was lazy, never worked on his game. He liked to be in the gym but he would not work on his game. Maybe it was because of his youth. He was a below average ball handler. He lacks assertiveness. He could have dominated that league if he wanted to, but the killer instinct was not in him. I knew he would get an opportunity to play in the NBA because of his age, athleticism and body. Good kid who should have never been in Qatar in the first place or should have left a long time ago. I would actually like to get a player or 2 to come play in Qatar, it has the potential to be a great league, but a couple rules need to be changed. The facilities were excellent but the knowledge of the game needs improvement.”

Brian Rowsom – Rowsom was a 2nd Round pick in the 1987 draft. He played three seasons with the Pacers and the Hornets. He went on to play four seasons in Israel in the early 90’s. He has since worked as an agent, a camp organizer, and most recently as a coach in both Japan and the Middle East. He coached Ngombo for Al Rayyan this season.

“I am very proud of Tanguy and what he has accomplished by getting drafted into the NBA.I was fortunate enough to experience the same thing in 1987 so I know what he is going through. I think his game is perfect for the NBA because a large part of the game there is based on athleticism. He is a wonderful athlete who can run and jump with anyone so that's a good start. Then he is a hard worker who wants to get better. His strengths again are his athleticism and willingness to learn and work hard to get better. He still lacks some of the techniques and little things that he will learn at the next level but that will come with more experience in the US playing and working with Coaches from the NBA. I think with time, he will become a better shooter from 3 pt range and also a better ball handler which will both take his game to a higher level. The main thing about playing in the NBA is having confidence. We both mentioned a lot of his physical abilities but mentally if he stays confident, he will always have a better chance of succeeding there! I am proud of him like a father and all of my friends in the US have been asking about him. It's a positive step for Qatar Basketball and all of the people involved with basketball in this country and region!”

    So what conclusions can we draw from the three assessments above? I think the most obvious one is that the guy goes by ‘Tanguy’ and not ‘Targuy.’ Interesting when you consider that when you google ‘Targuy’ there are ten times more results than ‘Tanguy.’ All three of these gentlemen seem to recognize the same strength in his game: his athleticism. Besides that they are all over the map, even though they are all generally complimentary of his potential. They agree a little more on his weaknesses as each of them point out his poor ball-handling skills. I think Guyton’s analysis of Ngombo’s work ethic is potentially very scary for those paying his salary in the future.

    Jonathan Givony sent links out yesterday showing Ngombo’s date of birth as 1984 from both a FIBA Africa tournament and the 2012 London Olympics’ website. I went through all of FIBA Asia tournaments and events websites and confirmed that they have the same biographical information (2010 Asia Champion’s, 2010 Stankovic, 2010 Asia Games, 2011 Asia Champion’s) since he has been playing for Qatar showing that he was born in 1989. First, if this is trickery, the perpetrator did a terrible job as everyone knows that Tanguy and Targuy are the same person. This was apparent before the draft, and actually from one of Givony’s first tweets about him, "Tanguy Ngombo or Targuy Ngombo from Qatar via the Congo indeed may get drafted by Minnesota, multiple NBA people say. 6-7 very athletic 3/4." If his date of birth has in fact been changed then it is obvious that it is connected with his move to Qatar. As many people have discussed, it would have been much more difficult for him to naturalize if he moved to Qatar over the age of 16.

     In the end I think that the basketball community needs to move their focus and scorn away from Ngombo and over to the organizations that allowed this “mix up” to occur in the first place. As I mentioned in the first post, the Qatar team is universally disliked around Asia as other countries feel that the team has too many foreign-born players without Qatari heritage. The Qatar Basketball Federation can be as excited as they want about Ngombo’s selection, but someone needs to step up and start answering some questions. Ultimately though FIBA needs to figure out how this happened. I think more than ever before this situation has shown the disparity, lack of communication, and lack of oversight that FIBA has over the national teams. The evidence showing Ngombo to be five years older than his stated date of birth was on a FIBA website! The fact that information on the FIBA main page, the FIBA Africa page, and the FIBA Asia page do not correspond with each other shows the disorganization of the organization. FIBA should take a front and center position to figure out what exactly is going on here, and show leadership in enforcing their own rules.

    Then again, FIFA let Qatar buy the World Cup, so why should FIBA not allow them to buy a good basketball team?

I had other plans this evening. I wanted to write about the Indonesian NBL, the bj league draft, the upcoming SEABA Tournament, and maybe a little Taiwan hoops as well. Those plans changed when Jonathan Givony sent out the following tweets:

"Can anyone on twitter say anything about Targuy Ngombo from Qatar? Legit NBA draft prospect?"

"Hearing this Targuy Ngombo guy might get drafted. Tweeps on my timeline don't sound overly impressed."

I was shocked. I know the name (because I spend everyday reading about Asian hoops) but had never heard a mention of him as an NBA prospect. So there went my evening plans and the internet stalking . . . I mean research began.  It needs to be noted that he is also referred to as Tanguy Ngombo at times, he is such a mystery that there is no way to confirm which is the real spelling.

6'6" - 204 - SF - born in the Congo (birthplace of a certain Serge Ibaka) - arrived in Qatar sometime around 2007 - supposedly he is 21 years old - plays in the Qatari 1st Division for powerhouse Al Rayyan - began playing with the Qatari National Team in 2009. Check out his profile with his agency, Court Side. How do we take it that his own agency barely has any information on him?

For those of you not familiar with the rivalries and politics of Asian basketball, the Qatari squad are like the Miami Heat - everyone hates them. Qatar is famous for naturalizing players left and right, particularly very tall African young men. The Lebanese and Filipino fans particularly seem to take offense at this development strategy. But I digress.

I scoured Youtube and some FIBA sites and was able to come up with 5 minutes of film for everyone to watch. I could have also included some clips from the Qatar vs. India game, but does it really help anyone to watch him play against a rec league team? Please note that I did not skip over his misses in these clips. In the first game he really was shooting the lights out.

After watching four games and some highlights here is a crack at a strengths and weaknesses list.

Strengths
-Athletic
-6'6" and 205 is big enough for a wing in the NBA
-Very good outside shooter

Weaknesses
-Ball-handling
-Creating his own shot. It seems that his offense is either at the three point arc or at the rim. While he has a solid first step he seems to be lost after he gets the step.
-Experience: Too easy? But it has to be the biggest knock to a guy who has played in a mid-level league in the Middle East. Does he know how to play hard every night? What is his basketball IQ?

The biggest question about him is how NBA people would have come to know about him. My guess is that it goes back to the November 2010 Asian Games. Ngombo scored 24 and grabbed 9 rebounds against China, a game NBA scouts were surely watching.

One last question: If Minnesota is so in love with Ngombo why would they even tip their hand as they could have brought him in as a free agent to camp without anyone knowing who he is?

I love the week before the NBA Draft!

I have been working on this article for over a month now. As you can see it is not an overly long piece, nor is it overly complicated in terms of statistical analysis or game strategy. So why has this taken so long to write? It comes down to the fact that no league is as apt to make last minute changes as the PBA. It was only after the first round of games that I can confirm the import players that are over here. The bonus is that I have had a chance to see all of them play now, and have a sense of how they will fit in with their team.

Talk ‘N Text is out to complete the rare Grand Slam by winning the final conference of the season, the Governor’s Cup. But competition will be fierce as it seems all the squads are making moves to shore up their weaknesses. With the strict height restrictions the PBA imposes the imports teams find are always interesting. How tall of a player teams are allowed to sign is contingent upon where finished in the earlier two conferences. For the Governor’s Cup BMeg, MGK, TNT, and Petron have a 6’2” height limit. Alaska, Meralco, Rain or Shine, and Air21 all have a 6’4” limit. After finishing at the bottom of the pecking order the Powerade Tigers are allowed a player up to 6’6”. Below is a look at who is here, who was rumored to be coming, and who may be going very soon. Of the 9 imports playing at this moment there is one NBA veteran, 6 D-League veterans, and two former D1 players. This collection of import talent may have the best resumes the league has ever seen. Whether or not that transfers well onto the court is another story all together.

Air 21 Express - St. John’s, NBDL and PBA veteran Alpha Bangura is back with Air 21 after a successful performance in the Commissioner’s Cup. He averaged 26 and 6 while leading the Express to the semi-finals. In his first two games of this conference he has shown a good connection with his teammates and gives them a player who can make a play when needed (except tonight during the last minute against Petron).

Alaska Aces – Looking for a player to shore up their frontline Alaska brought in Jason Forte. Forte is a well-traveled pro who played two games in the PBA a year or so ago. While I understand the need to fill a position, many other players must have fallen through for the Aces to pick up Forte. Frankly he is a solid all-around player, but he does nothing exceptionally well. In his first game he scored 16 points, grabbed 14 boards, and dished out 5 assists. While those numbers look good, it took him 25 field goal attempts (and 6 free throws) to score 16 points. Often the ball stopped rotating when it came to him and he tried to force the action. In his second game he scored 22 points, but disappeared for much of the second half. He showed a lot of hustle, but he can not be relied upon to get his team a basket when they need it. With an 0-2 record Alaska fans are already calling for his removal.Things will have to change quickly if he is planning on staying in the Philippines much longer.

 B-Meg Llamados – Up until a week ago the talk was that B-Meg were planning on bringing back Courtney Beasley for this conference. At the last minute though they decided to go after a D-Leaguer who made a name for himself this season with some big-time playoff performances: Stefhon Hannah. So far the Hannah experience has been a huge disappointment. He has yet to break double digits in either of his first two games and has shot an abysmal 18% from the field. And while he dished out 10 assists last game the critics and fans are actively calling for Hannah to be replaced as soon as possible.

Barangay Ginebra Kings– Coming off an MVP year in the D-League, Curtis Stinson may be one of the most high profile imports to ever join the PBA. Stinson should find great success in the PBA for two main reasons. First, in the D-League games I watched this season he excels at the drive and dish or kick out. Filipino ballers love nothing more than to hang out at the three point line ready to bomb away. Second, Stinson is around 215 pounds. He will be able to take his opponent into the post ala Mark Jackson. In his first game Stinson was as good as advertised turning in a solid all-around performance. He only scored 15 points, but added 9 rebounds and 8 assists. His coach, Jong Uichico, summed it up nicely “He’s okay as he competes, defends, plays the post and gets his teammates involved.”

Meralco Bolts – Meralco brought back former D-Leaguer and Nigerian National Team member Champ Oguchi for another conference. Oguchi was brought in half way through the Commisioner’s Cup and showed that he could produce at a high level in the PBA. Really not too much more to say, except that his 26 point and 10 rebound first game performance was right about normal for him. He continued with another high scoring output against the Alaska Aces tonight, including key buckets down the stretch to fend off the charging Alaska squad.

Petron Blaze Boosters – Playing for the first time with the Petron name, no team has been more active in the rumor area and evaluation of potential players. Initially the rumor was that they would be bringing in Will Conroy. After that fizzled they were rumored to be deciding between Bobby Brown (NBA veteran) and Ricky Harris (former UMass star and international pro). They announced they would bring in Harris before quickly changing their minds and deciding on Mike Taylor, the former D-League star and NBA player. Taylor supposedly was a beast in the preseason practices, but he then got hurt and is out for the next few weeks. So at the last minute they brought Harris back in, and he was pretty terrible in the first game scoring 8 points on 3/15 shooting and only collecting 2 assists. Others agreed with my assessment and Harris was sent home immediately after the game.

Game 2 of the conference for the Petron saw the arrival of D-League stud Jeremy Wise the morning of the game. Showing no signs of jet-lag or the fact he had never played with his teammates before, Wise starred with 33 points, 6 boards, and 6 assists. Wise looks to be the perfect compliment for Cabagnot who finished the game with 12 points and 10 assists. Most impressive of all was that Wise played within the team system and did not force anything. He is going to thrive in the break-neck pace of the PBA.

Powerade Tigers – Former NBA player and PBA import Chris Porter was brought in as a last minute replacement for the Tigers after their original import John Williamson went down with an injury. The first rumor I heard was that they would bring in Gabe Freeman, but nothing materialized on that front. Bummer. Porter was spectacular in his first outing and pretty average in his second. The Tigers are a pretty weak squad, and B-Meg learned early in last night’s contest that they would not be punished for double-teaming Porter throughout the game. At this point he is averaging 27.5 points and 13.5 rebounds a game.

Rain or Shine Elasto Painters – High Point University’s finest Arizona Reid is making his PBA debut this conference. Reid gets my “Most Likely to Make Me Forget Gabe Freeman Award” this conference, a huge honor as anyone who reads this blog regularly knows.  Before coming to our corner of the world Reid has played in leagues in Italy, Finland, Lebanon, and Switzerland. He plays with a ton of energy and can even hit an outside shot. Over his first two games he has averaged 30 points and 14 rebounds while leading his team to a 2-0 start.

Talk N Text Tropang Texters – Maurice Baker was named as TNT’s import for the third conference pretty late in the game. Originally Scottie Reynolds was the choice, but he recently sustained an injury while playing in another league so will be unable to come over. The TNT coach was quoted as saying they “went to the bottom of the barrel” to find Baker. Not exactly a ringing endorsement. With their strong Filipino squad, Baker will be looked to as a floor general to keep everyone together. A lot of pressure is riding on Baker here, as TNT goes for the elusive Grand Slam. While Baker had a solid first outing he is going to need to step his game up even more with the injury to star point guard Jimmy Alapag. Baker will have the difficult challenge of balancing scoring and distributing the ball.

I will make sure to provide further updates as the conference progresses, particularly if any of the imports are replaced. If anyone wants to know how to watch online send me a tweet @asiabballupdate.

Sorry that I am a little slow to finish off my coverage of the event in Nanjing. So here is a super post covering Days 4 and 5.

Day 4

Mongolia vs. Hong Kong

The 5/6 game is interesting only because it matched up the two teams who really had no chance in this tournament. While the results from earlier in the week would have suggested the Mongolian squad was more competitive, the Hong Kong squad showed that they do have some talent (something a -148 point differential for the first two games did not imply). Going into the half Mongolia was up by 2 points, but Hong Kong came out hot in the third and went up by ten. In the end Hong Kong was able to hold on for the 87-83 victory.

South Korea vs. Taiwan

Taiwan started the game slowly for the third time in three games. Unfortunately for them the South Koreans are a veteran squad and knew how to hold on to the lead. South Korea ended the game on top with a 69-61 victory. For Taiwan, Yulon’s Lu Cheng-ju was the high point man with 15 points.

China vs. Japan

Does beating China’s B team really matter? The feeling among fans and followers of Asian basketball is that the Chinese obviously cared very little about the result of the tournament, as they are assured a spot in the September tournament, and have home court advantage no matter what. Japan played a great game, and were able to make the Chinese turn the ball over much more than they usually do. In a somewhat surprising ending the Japanese came out on top with a 72-62 win.

Day 5

China vs. Taiwan

While China may have cared very little about the outcome of the previous game, any match between these two political foes will lead to a passionate game and a full effort from both squads. Chinese guard Meng Duo ended up being the difference maker in this game as his lights out shooting in the 3rd sparked a devastating 30-11 third quarter. The Taiwanese squad were unable to mount a comeback and the scored ended up a lopsided 87-53. Both teams are missing key players, but it looks like when the Chinese players are out to win they are going to be extremely difficult to beat.

South Korea vs. Japan

Old rivals Japan and South Korea met for the gold, and the right for top seed coming out of the East Asia region. It was a game of runs as South Korea stormed ahead to a double digit lead in the first quarter, only to let Japan come right back with a big second period. Korea finally blew open the game in the final period, finishing with an 89-73 victory for the gold.

In the end the tournament left me with more questions than answers as to the quality of the four teams that will be advancing. South Korea and Japan brought pretty complete rosters to the event, so we have a good sense of what they are capable of. It has been widely discussed by me and others that the Chinese team was their ‘B’ unit. Which of these players will get a chance to play in the September tournament? Taiwan remains the biggest wild card though. They played this tournament without their best center (Tseng Wen-ting), one of their top forwards (Tien Lei), their premier point guard (Lin Chih-chieh), and without their best young player (Jet Chang). It looks like the first three will be available to play, but with his commitments in the US it is unlikely Jet will be able to play in the September tournament. This is truly a shame as he showed in last year’s Stankovic Cup that he could score against top tier international competition.

Next up for all you Asia basketball fans is the SEABA Championship next week in Jakarta. Three more teams will ultimately gain entrance to the September tournament in China.