Broken records and global talents highlight recent action in leagues across Asia

BEIRUT (Lebanon) - We're heading towards the final month of the calendar year, but teams and players across Asia are not yet slowing down in churning out noteworthy performances in the various professional leagues being played.

From west to east, the action has been exciting and will only get more intense as we go.

Disclaimer: Information taken into account for this update is as updated as of 24 November, 2023.

Record Breakers

It has not been a safe period for statistical achievements as we saw plenty of such a few statistical achievements matched or broken.

In WASL-Gulf, we saw Muharraq's Tyler Wilkerson break the WASL record for most points in a debut (34 points). That came in a loss to Kuwait Club on 13 November, who had Hamad Hasan break the WASL-Gulf single-game three-point shooting record (8 threes) while also briefly holding on to the WASL-Gulf record for most points scored by a non-foreign player with 28 points.

The latter record was broken just a week later on 20 November when Mosti Rashed dropped 29 points to set the new standard.

 

It wasn't just about scoring either as another WASL record was broken on 14 November when Al Rayyan's Abdulla Yassin Mousa took the court against Al Ahli Jeddah. The 18 points scored by Mousa was certainly impressive, but the more intriguing number was that he had smashed the record for the youngest player to play and score in WASL at 15 years old and 142 days.

 

Not to be outdone, WASL-West also set some new statistical standards in the first gameday of action, too.

In back-to-back weeks of games played in Syria, first on 16 November at the Al Hamadaniyeh Stadium in Aleppo and then on 23 November at the Al Fayhaa Stadium in Damascus, the league saw record-breaking attendances on both occasions. The first game in Aleppo between Al Ittihad Ahli and Al Naft drew in a crowd of over 9000 people, while Al Wadha's clash over Al Shorta scored over 8000 fans in the stands. This stands as the first and second largest attendance in WASL to date.

 

Additionally on 16 November, Al Naft's Karrar Hamzah broke the record for steals made in a game, swiping away a total of 8 in their loss to Al Ittihad Ahli.

Moving over to the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league, a three-point shooting feat was recorded as well on 13 November when the Guangdong Southern Tigers defeated the Nanjing Monkey Kings. Up-and-coming guard Xu Jie knocked down 9 three-pointers on 10 attempts which officially made him the only active Chinese player to make that many threes with a conversion rate of 90 percent. The only three players to have recorded the feat in the past are Taylor Rochestie (foreign player), Zhu Fangyu (retired), and Zhang Yunsong (retired).

In the Korea Basketball League (KBL), the record hasn't been broken, but national team star Kim Jongkyu is moving up the standings of all-time blocks leaders. Recently in Wonju DB Promy's win over Suwon KT, Kim swatted away 2 shot attempts, bringing his career total to 441 - good enough to overtake David Simon for 9th all-time. Through 15 games, Kim has blocked 22 shots (1.47 per game) and could be on pace to crack 500 career blocks - a feat that's only been achieved by four players in the history of the KBL.

Going Global

It's an exciting time for basketball all over Asia with so many significant talents from around the world plying their trade in the leagues across the region.

 

Japan's B.League is already well-known as seeing many nations represented in their games and they continued to add more flavor, confirmed with some recent announcements. B2 squad Altiri Chiba added Chinese tower Liu Chuanxing to their squad, prompting a claim as having the "tallest player in B.League history". Liu has played for China in FIBA OQTs 2020 and FIBA Asia Cup 2022 Qualifiers while also having played in the CBA, East Asia Super League (EASL), and the National Basketball League (NBL) in Australia.

Another Chinese center set to play in Japan is Li Shengze, another well-traveled young big man looking to pave his way in the professional basketball world.

There are also some standouts who were playing in the recent World Cup and have continued to play in Asia - albeit as foreign players in these respective Asian leagues. There is Egypt's Assem Marei who is playing in the KBL for the Changwon LG Sakers and is averaging 21.7 points, 16.7 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game in three straight wins for his team.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was a fan favorite when Jordan was playing in Manila and he has continued to put on a show for TNT Tropang Giga in the Philippines Basketball Association (PBA) as well as the EASL. In a recent dominating win on 23 November, Hollis-Jefferson poured in 37 points on 21 attempts while also getting 6 each of rebounds and assists. Chris Ortiz also played in Manila during his World Cup appearance for Puerto Rico and has been a star for Blackwater Bossing in the PBA, putting up 35 points, 17 rebounds, and 7 assists in his recent game on 24 November.

Both WASL-Gulf and WASL-West Asia have their flair of foreign national team talents spread out across their rosters, too. Africa is well-represented with Tunisian legend Radhouane Slimane playing for Sagesse SC in Lebanon, Nigeria's Uche Iroegbu playing for Al Shamal SC in Qatar, Senegal's Mouhammad Faye playing for Al Rayyan in Qatar, and Cameroon's Kenny Kadji playing for Al Ahli Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Don't forget about players who have experience playing for USA Basketball in WASL as well from Al Rayyan's Mustapha Heron (Pan-American Games 2019) and Manama's Sir'Dominic Pointer, who played for USA in a window of the AmeriCup 2022 Qualifiers.

Of course, in mentioning USA Basketball talents, who can forget Jameel Warney, the AmeriCup 2017 who has been on a tear for the Seoul SK Knights in the KBL, averaging 30.0 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game in 3 consecutive wins.

With this not yet taking in consideration of the local national team stars in each league, it's easy to see why there's a lot of excitement toward the league action in Asia.

Who's been hot?

These players were shining brightly for their teams recently. Who do you think has been the best?

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