Interesting and intriguing notes from FIBA Asia Champions Cup

KUALA LUMPUR (Mageshwaran's AsiaScope) - Never before in my life had I witnessed a game in which both teams - one of them obviously far superior - scored 100 points in the contest. Honestly, I hadn't envisioned that happening in a FIBA Asia competition game either. But the reality of that was staring me in the face a few hours ago, when Bahrain's young and inexperienced outfit Al Hala scored 100 points against the formidable Foolad Mahan of Iran in a Preliminary Round game at the 24th FIBA Asia Champions Cup in Amman, Jordan.

Of course, questions are raised about the defense - or the lack of it - on either side when we witnessed the winning team shoot at an incredible rate of 77 percent from inside the three-point arc and a player from the losing team scored 51 points - more than half of their total!

I certainly won't add to this debate already seriously discussed among FIBA Asia coaching circles, but the fact of the matter remains that the happier of the two coaches at the end of the game was certainly from the losing side.

That the Iranian team had in its composition three of the starting five who won gold at the 27th FIBA Asia Championship in Manila, Philippines a month ago for the national team - to qualify for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain (30 August-14 September 2014) - and the Bahrain outfit had none from their national team that finished only 12th makes the matter all the more awkward to discuss in detail.

Every team has its own agenda and every coach has his own philosophy. I'll respect that and therefore leave it here.

Scoring proficiency is certainly one of the indices teams participating in the competition have factored in when selecting the import players for their rosters.

Hala did choose Rasheim Wright - the most prolific scorer in three of the last four FIBA Asia Championships - he wasn't there with Jordan at the 27th FIBA Asia Championship. And he's not the only one here who fits this bill.

ASU, hosting Jordan's first-ever FIBA Asia competition, have indeed gone with high-scoring abilities while choosing Quincy Douby, who the readers here will be familiar for the record 75 points he scored in a game in the CBA early this year. The Rutgers alumnus has not reached those dizzying - some may even call incredible - heights, but is certainly the leading scorer for his team.

So is the case of former Slovenia international Sani Becirovic for Mahan and every other team which has imports.

This takes us to the very approach of the clubs and some interesting questions.

What is the basis on which clubs should choose their import players?

Should it be a player who can help them win the tournament, and that's it?

Should it be a player who can actually contribute to the team by giving his input to the local talent?

Should it be a player who will sign up only for the tournament and talk to his agent looking for a new contract - including in some of the teams he is playing against in the competition, even as the tournament is not yet completed?

Should it be a player who will stay with the team for a considerable period of time adding his value to the overall development of the club, and consequently the domestic structure in the country?

I leave it to the club managements to answer.

So long…

S Mageshwaran

FIBA Asia

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