AMMAN & AS SALT (Jordan) - The second day of the FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024 was another banger.
Here are three key takeaways from all of the action in Gameday 2:
Aussies out to dominate
Among the teams that have managed to stay undefeated through the second gameday, Australia are up there among looking the most dominant after beating Lebanon, 78-46.
Don't forget that Lebanon are the winners of the U18 Asia Cup WABA Qualifiers, where they went up against the likes of a solid Iran team who are also here in Jordan. They even started the game going up by as much as 7 points against Australia, which is the biggest lead any team has had against Australia in a U18 Asia Cup. The Young Cedars are a good team.
That didn't matter, as the Emus erupted for a 15 straight points, retaking the lead for good and running away with another massive win.
Even though this Australia team is missing a few prominent names, they have showcased that they are still pretty awesome - especially Jacob Furphy, who scored 28 points to set the new high in scoring for Australia in this competition by dropping 28.
It makes you kind of wonder which team will be built to take down this squad.
Sharing is caring for Japan
Japan had a rocky start in this competition against Qatar, but they were able to turn things around. Now they seem to be in cruise control after an impressive outing against Kazakhstan, 84-35.
More than the massive win was the way they won, surgically carving up the defense and precisely knocking down the shots they created with their ball movement.
A big piece of evidence of why their game has been so effective (and why it's so fun to watch) was their 29 assists. While it's not the most amount of dimes in a game so far this year (Hi, Korea), it comes along with 33 made field-goals. At a blistering ratio of 0.88 assists per field goal made, this game by Japan marks one of the highest ever in a U18 Asia Cup in the past decade in a win.
Top 5 Assists to Field Goals Made ratio in a win in past decade
(Of course, with Korea being Korea, the fellow East Asian rivals would match that number of 29 assists and 33 made field goals a few hours later when they beat Kuwait, 86-36).
History made for hosts
Despite their opening day loss, Jordan looked solid and Sam Daghlas agrees with us here.
Proud of the passion and fight they showed on the court! Learn and move on to the next one!
They assured their home fans that it wouldn't be a one-hit wonder and went on to score a big win against a tough opponent in the Philippines, 62-56.
This make it Jordan's first win in a FIBA youth competition against the Philippines in almost 30 years. Since Jordan beat the Philippines 72-71 in the 1995 Asian Championship for Junior Men, they've lost four straight times to the South East Asian powerhouse, including a 25-point romp in 2014.
To paint a picture as to how far Jordan basketball have come, the last time Jordan beat the Philippines in a FIBA youth competition
Current U18 assistant coach and senior national team legend Zaid Abbas was 11 years old
Head coach Wesam Al-Sous was 12 years old
Sam Daghlas was 16 years old
Jordan might not be a team you would want to face in the Final Phase of the U18 Asia Cup 2024.
FIBA