Five takeaways from Day 3 of FIBA U18 Asian Championship

NONTHABURI (FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2018) – The Group Phase concluded in exciting fashion with teams putting everything all out on the table. The day was filled with team making exciting comeback rallies, some with success and another handful falling just short.

Here are five takeaways from Day 3 of the FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2018:

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Australia out to dominate

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The Aussies did not have a single hitch in their entire group phase play. The other teams that finished in first place of their respective groups ran into some trouble before eventually coming out on top. Iran were never able to shake Japan off their backs. The Philippines had to withstand a last minute charge from China. Even Korea had to survive a frantic rally from Chinese-Taipei to come out undefeated in the Group Phase.

Australia had no trouble whatsoever in completely tearing down a good New Zealand team and cruising to a win. None of their players have had to put in an extra amount of individual effort to get the team a win. It’s just been a well-oiled dominating machine so far.

Maybe they will finally get slowed down in the Quarterfinals, but for now it seems like they’ve yet to have met their match.

Indonesia pride

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Among all of the teams that were in the 4^th pot of the draw heading into the FIBA U18 Asian Championship, only Indonesia were able to get a win and make it to the Playoffs. They were also able to do it quite dramatic fashion, coming from behind against Kazakhstan before running away with the lead.



They won’t be getting it easy with a do-or-die game against China to make it to the Quarterfinals, but getting the win today is a good enough reason already for a big celebration.

The Philippines strike back

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Over the previous three meeting before here in Thailand, China has easily beaten the Philippines in U18 competition. The average deficit of those three loses was 33.7 points.



For the Philippines to get a convincing win over China here at this level gives them the confidence and assurance that they are certainly among the cream of the crop in this playing field.

Kai Sotto, AJ Edu, Dalph Panopio, and Sean Dave Ildefonso are proving that they certainly are the core of the future for the Philippines.

India’s future is also  in good hands

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If a 40-point explosion (albeit in a loss to Korea) wasn’t enough to give hope for the future of India basketball, Rajeev Kumar came out again with an encore for 32 points.



There’s certainly still come areas to polish for the 16-year-old gunner, but at least it seems like they have another promising wing scorer to work with heading on.

Jonah Morrison’s Breakout Game

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Chinese-Taipei’s marquee big man, Jonah Morrison, had been pretty quiet in the team’s first two wins. Aside from decent rebounding numbers, it didn’t seem like Morrison was going to put an effort to do much damage by himself.



That all changed when Chinese-Taipei found themselves in a deep hole against Korea and Morrison started to attack. Using his sturdy frame and well-timed pump fakes, Morrison was able to score 21 points all the while putting up 15 rebounds and 3 blocks.

He still has plenty of room for improvement and that’s why these outbursts are so intriguing for his future.  

FIBA