FIBA Asia Championships In Full Swing

The tournament started Thursday in China, but if you’ve missed any action so far fear not; the competition doesn’t conclude until next Sunday. The current group leaders are Korea in Group E and China and Jordan tied in Group F. Even without Yao Ming, China has played well, especially Yi Jiianlian, who has averaged 15 pts and 7.7 rebounds per game. Former Dallas Maverick Wang Zhizhi is also asserting himself well, averaging 14.3 pts and 9.7 rebounds. However, it should be noted that some of the opponents are not up to snuff. China has beaten India 121-49, Kazakhstan 74-56, and Qatar 92-61. They’re hardly playing Spain, Argentina and Australia.

Teams qualified for the Asia Championships in the following manner:

China – automatic qualification by being the host.

Jordan – automatic by being 2008 FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup

The top 5 finishers in the 2008 Stakovic Cup earned an additional qualifying spot for their sub-zone. Here is the zonal breakdown:

WABA: Iran, Jordan, Leabanon

Gulf: Bahrain (withdrew), Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates

Middle: India, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan

East: China, India, Japan

Southeast: Indonesia, Phillippines

*Note: Taiwan was given a wild card berth when Bahrain dropped out.

From the quarterfinals on, the play will be a straight playoff format. The two teams that make the finals plus the 3rd place winner automatically qualify for the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey.