The Taiwan men’s national basketball team on Sunday lost to China 91-73, making it more difficult for the squad to qualify for the FIBA Asia Cup.
The defeat at the Angeles University Foundation Gym in Pampanga Province, Philippines, followed Taiwan’s losses to China (115-66) on Thursday and Japan (98-61) on Friday.
This third and final window of the qualifiers was held in a “competition bubble” to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Photo: AFP / Paul Ryan Tan / FIBA Asia Cup
With the loss, Taiwan (1-4) finished third in Group B, which included China, Japan and Malaysia. Third place does not automatically give them a berth in the Asia Cup, which is scheduled to take place in Jakarta in mid-August.
However, Taiwan still have one chance to qualify. Indonesia are to host a qualifying tournament for the six third-placed teams in Jarkarta before the Asia Cup begins.
As the hosts, Indonesia are to automatically be given a berth in the Asia Cup, but the top three teams at the qualifying tournament would also qualify.
Photo: AFP / Paul Ryan Tan / FIBA Asia Cup
The top slot was taken by Asian powerhouse China (4-0), followed by heavyweight Japan (2-2). Malaysia finished last in the group.
Despite the loss, Sunday’s game showed that Taiwan’s young squad of mostly semi-professional and collegiate players can be competitive against Asia’s better teams.
China used their height advantage to lead 28-16 at the end of the first quarter, but Taiwan rallied in the second quarter, using their speed to pull off a 23-21 run against their taller opponents.
Photo: AFP / Paul Ryan Tan / FIBA Asia Cup
Finding their rhythm, Taiwan made four of eight three-pointers and narrowed the deficit, trailing China 49-39 at halftime.
China’s aggressiveness widened the lead to 76-53 in the third quarter, but Taiwan hit back with a 20-15 run in the fourth quarter by hitting the basket from the high and low posts.
However, Taiwan failed to further close the gap and China took the win at the final buzzer.
China forward Zhou Peng, who plays for the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association, led all scorers with 21 points, while his teammate, center Shen Zijie, posted the only double-double of the game, with 18 points and 14 rebounds.
China’s Zhou is 2.06m tall and Shen is 2.11m tall, while Taiwan center Jonah Morrison, at 2.03m tall, is the only Taiwan player over 2m.
After the defeat, Morrison said that Taiwan played much better than in Thursday’s game against China.
“When we first arrived in the Philippines, we didn’t play that well because we were still trying to get used to each other, playing our first game as a team. But now after two, three games, we’re getting more used to each other [and] our chemistry is building up, so I think we’re going to play better in the future,” Morrison said.
Asked about Taiwan’s lack of height and the possibility of naturalizing foreign players, Taiwan assistant coach Cheng Chih-lung said that Taiwan’s existing laws make that “complicated.”
“Taiwan’s basketball association has a number of ideas, but because of the laws, the procedure is a bit complicated,” Cheng said. “We are still working on it.”
Twenty-four teams competed in six groups with the top two in each group automatically qualifying for the Asia Cup.
The teams that have qualified so far are Australia, Bahrain, China, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea and Syria.
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