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.

Sunday saw the end of round robin play. China defeated South Korea 61-54 in the less meaningful of the two games as both teams had already qualified for the next round.

The other match-up was more important though as the winner of the Japan-Mongolia game would not only advance to the semi-finals, but also would qualify for the FIBA Asia Championship in September. Japan came out strong in the 1st quarter and built an 11 point lead. While Mongolia fought hard throughout the game they were unable to crack Japan's lead. The end score was 94-73 in favor of Japan.

While the four teams that were supposed to advance all did, to me the biggest news of this tournament has been the competitiveness of the Mongolian squad. While the four "big boys" of this tournament all played at less than full strength, the fact that Mongolia was not blown out in their two matches is noteworthy in my opinion. It should be interesting to see if they treat their coming game against Hong Kong with as much pride and passion as they have the last two.

On Tuesday Japan will face China and Taiwan will go up against South Korea. China should handle Japan while the Taiwan-South Korea match-up should be a great game. In the end though, I think the winner of this tournament will end up being the team that places the most value on winning it all. Will the teams keep focusing on giving young players experience, or will they choose to play the veterans to ensure a higher seed in the Asia Championships?

Day 2 of this “tournament” unfolded as predicted. In the first game of the day the Mongolian squad came out strong and actually had a lead at half-time. But today was not a day for upsets as Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) took control in the 3rd and cruised to a 14 point victory 85-71.

In the second game Hong Kong was once again overmatched and overpowered. China had a 28-5 lead after the first quarter and never looked back, winning 104-43 in the end.

Of the three spots open for the FIBA Asia Championship two were secured today. Tomorrow’s match-up between Japan and Mongolia will determine who the fourth representative from the region will be in September (China has an automatic entry). The Semi-Finals and Finals will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday. Winning the tournament could have positive implications for seeding in the September tournament, so we should hopefully see some continued effort in the final two rounds.