Day 4 HOT and NOT

CHENZHOU (FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017) - Action was hot and heavy once again on Day 4 of the FIBA Asia Championship 2017, with some players taking charge and some taking a backseat.

HOT

Justin Carter (BC Astana)

Carter proved once again that he could walk the walk and not just talk the talk. The embattled foreign reinforcement of BC Astana tossed in 23 points to go along with 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks in an all-around effort against the hapless Sareyyet Ramallah. Carter has gained a lot of momentum after their opening day loss to Chooks-To-Go, and he should be one to watch in the Quarter-Finals.

Qais Omar Al Shabebi (Al Ahli UAE)

The Emirati big man showed everyone that despite his team's struggles, he can be as productive as the best centers out there. Against Sim Bhullar and the Dacin Tigers of Taipei, the 2.00m Al Shabebi put up herculean numbers - 37 points and 22 rebounds while shooting15-of-29 from the field, including 2 three-pointers.

Meisam Mirzaei (Petrochimi Iran)

He is certainly not the brightest star on Petrochimi's roster, but that has not stopped Meisam Mirzaei from registering great production. He continued to impress against Mono Vampire Thailand, putting up a 14-point, 15-rebound double-double, far outplaying American center Mike Singletary. Mirzaei is the biggest reason Petrochimi are not missing Hamed Haddadi in the middle too much.

NOT

Mono Vampire Thailand

The Thais should be commended for being able to stick with the Iranians for one whole half, but their performance dipped big time in the third and fourth quarters of their 111-60 loss. The Thais just could not get much going against a bigger and deeper Petrochimi quintet, and it showed in the stat-sheet, where the Iranian side grossly outplayed Mono Vampire in practically every facet of the game - they were outrebounded (48-24), they fell behind in assists (26-13) and they had a helluva lot more turnovers (25-11).

Jamal Abu Shamala (Sareyyet Ramallah)

One guy whose production has really dropped off has been American-born Palestinian wingman Jamal Abu Shamala. He started the tournament really well against Mono Vampire and Chooks-To-Go, averaging 22.5 points on Days 1 and 2, but that has really tapered off sharply the last two days, where the 30-year-old has scored a total of only12 points and shot 4-of-16 from the field.

Riyaz Uddin (ONGC India)

Given his experience, the 36-year-old Uddin was supposed to be one of the old reliables for coach Trideep Rai, but the 1.86m point guard really struggled last night against a determined Al Riyadi team. Uddin made just 1 of his 8 field goal attempts for a grand total of 2 points in 32 minutes. He also had just 2 assists against a whopping 7 turnovers. Suffice to say he had a bad day.

FIBA