Opals and Tall Ferns will raise Asia's level in 2017

MANILA (Enzo Flojo's Asia on my Mind) - Much has been written about the entry of Australia and New Zealand into the Asian basketball scene, with much of the focus on the ballyhooed and highly ranked Boomers and Tall Blacks. That is understandable, of course, given how both Australia and New Zealand have a lot of size and depth in their respective rosters. They will certainly shake up the tiers in Asian men's basketball - with teams like Korea, the Philippines, Iran and Lebanon already retooling to some extent - but it is reasonable to believe that they will also affect women's hoops in a very significant way.

First off, Australia's presence alone changes things in a seismic way. I mean, we are talking about the fourth-ranked women's national team in the world here. The Opals will make a splaush wherever they go, and, boy, what a splash they're set to make in Asia.

Remember that Australia was highly touted entering the Rio Olympics 2016, and early on they lived up to expectations, sweeping Group A by winning all their five games. Behind the power trio of Liz Cambage, Penny Taylor and Leilani Mitchell, the Opals ran roughshod over hosts Brazil, Turkey, France, Japan and Belarus before losing in a shocker to eventual bronze medalists Serbia in the Quarter-Finals.

The 2.03m Cambage was the Aussies' tower of power in that tournament, averaging 23.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. Needless to say, it will be very exciting to see her share the FIBA Asia hardwood with the likes of Japan's Ramu Tokashiki, China's Sun Mengran and Korea's Yang JiHee. Others to watch from coach Brendan Joyce's crew are Mitchell, Taylor, Marianna Tolo and Rachel Jarry — all of whom will really push the envelope in terms of talent and skill in the continent.

Not to be outdone, the Tall Ferns should be a very competitive squad in FIBA Asia. They are ranked 38th overall in the world, but consistently going up against the likes of China, Japan and Korea - all of whom are in the Top 20 - will force the Kiwis to fast-track their learning and improvement. New Zealand usually just plays Australia in very intense games in the FIBA Oceania zone, and as they demonstrated in the FIBA Oceania U18 Championships for Women 2016, the Tall Ferns have surely outgrown most of their foes and are in dire need of a much more competitive environment. FIBA Asia will provide that in spades. Among the players to watch from New Zealand are veterans Micaela Cocks, Jillian Harmon and Antonia Edmondson - all of whom excelled in the FIBA Women's OQT 2016.

As good as the Aussies and Kiwis are, though, traditional Asian powers like the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese will not be pushovers. They are ranked 10th, 13th and 15th respectively in the world, and all three can more than hold their own against the new ladies on the block. China and Japan, in particular, will definitely work very hard to maintain their shared dominance in the continent. Between the two, China and Japan have collectively won all of the last four FIBA Asia Women's titles. Of course, not to be outdone, Korea, the winningest Asian country with 12 top finishes and 26 times on the podium, are also trying hard to be in the mix. It would be foolish to expect star players like Tokashiki, Sun and Yang to bow down easily. Aside from them, Australia and New Zealand are sure to face tough opposition from other top-shelf talents like Gao Song, Asami Yoshida, Kim DanBi and perhaps even from upstart teams like Chinese Taipei (led by Bao Hsi-Le) and the Philippines (led by Afril Bernardino).

The Asian squads, in fact, should relish the entry of these two countries - as opposed to shrinking in the face of them - because the Opals and Tall Ferns will increase the level of competition in Asia and that should bring with it even more improvement from the rest of the field.

Australia and New Zealand will both be seeded in FIBA Asia's Level A, which increases the total number of teams to 8 instead of the usual 6. That allows for more dynamic play and more interesting match up possibilities, which should be a treat for Asian hoop nuts everywhere.

At the end of the day, as basketball fans, what we all want to see is much more competitive play, and having both Australia and New Zealand join FIBA Asia in both men's and women's play will do just that.

Enzo Flojo

FIBA

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