FIBA-Asia Cup 2025 Saudi Arabia

[paolylo2]

I think Saudi choosing to be in pot 1 hurt them more than it should. I'd honestly just select my group. Like which matches are actually winnable for them in group C? Only India and they're in good form atm.

Yeah, I'm glad we aren't in group A. It would have been a repeat of the disastrous Doha campaign where we only got 1 win (against Qatar).

Brownlee's status is also still up in the air. We have a stubborn coach who doesn't want to include more players. It's gonna be hell of a ride in the lead up to the tournament.

Pray we don't see any more injuries.

It's always the case as with any other draw of most sporting events that the hosts are seeded regardless of their performance/ranking as a privilege of getting better chances of advancing. This happens every time in FIFA football (soccer) but it's funny even in those goddamn local content creator videos how not a lot of Filipinos who follow FIBA understands this even if the SBP did the same thing despite the co-hosting setup in the previous FIBA World Cup. Imagine in 2023 if we had grouped Gilas with anyone from pot 1 and 2 before. It works both ways. If your host team is shite, they're still not getting past the group stage. Same thing with Saudi had they gotten grouped with Gilas, Syria, and either Guam or Iraq.

Now, I don't care about Brownlee now that he's not 100% sure. Even when they announced the squad back in Dec 2023 knowing it was a 4-year plan hoping for a Olympic tournament slot in 2028, they must have seen Iso Joe play for team USA and thought there's no problem bringing in a soon-to-be 37-year-old wing to the squad with a big (Kouame) as an alternative if he gets injured.

We shit on Chot, now we shit on CTC. That's how it works. The only difference is that winning solves everything. The PBA was scared shitless of lending players for FIBA events so CTC's stubborness is the compromise just because they saw how the Toroman squad devoid of PBA players but had CJ Giles implode when they were losing to teams that even an all-PBA squad got blown out to. Not to mention the stupidity of those "special drafts" all those years where only Pogoy and Wright made it to the lineup.

 

[Giannis34GOD2]

This is my take on Qatar:
I believe that at this point Qatar isn't in the same level as Australia, New Zealand, China, Lebanon, Jordan, Korea (if it plays full force) & perhaps even the much improved Chinese Taipei. But definitely Qatar has improved significantly by having 2 imports on its side - guard Mike Lewis & big man Tyler Harris. Malaking bagay sa Qatar having those 2 American players in their roster.

If I'm coach Tim Cone, I would rather face teams like Iraq, Syria, Guam or Saudi Arabia than face Qatar.

Guam is better than Qatar bro.. if your logic is having 2 imports.. BTW, Guam also have 2 import level players in Earnest Ross and Jonathan Galloway.. maybe you only think the best player of Guam is Jericho Cruz, w/c is not.. he's (Cruz) only the 4th best player there... Ross is better than Lewis by the way.. Ross can give you automatic 20 pts per game anytime... And most of Qatar's recruit are not that good... Sorry bro.. I will either pick Saudis over them too.. they just overhype because they are the host of world cup and they have to do something..

 

[Giannis34GOD2]

Sorry to disagree with U on this bro but between Jordan & China, I would prefer to play Jordan in a knockout match. I just feel that a well prepared China team will be very very dangerous. And I bet China is going to prepare very well for this tournament. I expect China to train for at least 6 weeks for this tournament with a good No. of tuneup games - things that our Gilas team can only wish for.

I just feel that Jordan's shallow bench is going to hurt them in a tournament format where each team gets to play 6 to 7 games. I feel China has a deeper lineup than Jordan although China's starting 5 isn't as solid as Jordan.

with RHJ around for Jordan, he knows our players, coaching staff and even our ballboys.. that's dangerous bro... China is not good as you think before, even they will have that 2 month preparation, they are better opponent for us match up wise.. they are soft as marshmallow.. mentality they can't match up against us especially in physicality... Fajardo can bully any of those Chinese bigs, even Zhou Qi... Edu is much better than most of those Chinese bigs.. hoping that brownlee is available.. because if he's there, It will be another reason why I want china than Jordan.. Chinese are afraid of us and Brownlee after that miraculous game in Asian games 2 years ago.. while if you want Jordan on Gilas, RHJ will always have his numbers on JB.. and that will kill the confidence of his teammates too.. I don't care if Jordan has shallow bench, RHJ can play 40 mins anyway... Jordan and RHJ are not afraid of Brownlee and Gilas, while China somehow have phobia when playing Gilas today...

 

[lem0nadi2]

with RHJ around for Jordan, he knows our players, coaching staff and even our ballboys.. that's dangerous bro... China is not good as you think before, even they will have that 2 month preparation, they are better opponent for us match up wise.. they are soft as marshmallow.. mentality they can't match up against us especially in physicality... Fajardo can bully any of those Chinese bigs, even Zhou Qi... Edu is much better than most of those Chinese bigs.. hoping that brownlee is available.. because if he's there, It will be another reason why I want china than Jordan.. Chinese are afraid of us and Brownlee after that miraculous game in Asian games 2 years ago.. while if you want Jordan on Gilas, RHJ will always have his numbers on JB.. and that will kill the confidence of his teammates too.. I don't care if Jordan has shallow bench, RHJ can play 40 mins anyway... Jordan and RHJ are not afraid of Brownlee and Gilas, while China somehow have phobia when playing Gilas today...

I think you're referring to the China team that Gilas beat twice, in the World Cup and the Asian Games. However, I hate to tell you that the China team from those tournaments is nowhere near the rebuilt team they fielded in the last window. The current Chinese team is already built around Hansen Yang (was on limited minutes on that window but you can see their goal of creating the team around him), with the addition of Fanbo Zeng—both of whom were not included in the WC and AG Chinese teams that Gilas beat. They’ve only retained about half of the players, including the two Zhao surnames, Zhou Qi, and Yongxi Cui.

This is essentially the same situation with Chinese Taipei. Many fans thought they were the same team that Gilas destroyed with a 50-point beatdown, not realizing they retained only 3 players from that squad. If Gilas and China were to play each other again, the outcome would be much different compared to the WC and AG, as the Chinese team has undergone a massive rebuild.

That's why I’d take Jordan over them. Regardless of how many players they retain, their team is still built with the same core players that Gilas already beat—Al-Dwairi, Ibrahim, and their NP. It’s pretty much the same situation as Gilas, who are reliant on a few players like Kai and JB.
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[JAMSKIE2]

Guam is better than Qatar bro.. if your logic is having 2 imports.. BTW, Guam also have 2 import level players in Earnest Ross and Jonathan Galloway.. maybe you only think the best player of Guam is Jericho Cruz, w/c is not.. he's (Cruz) only the 4th best player there... Ross is better than Lewis by the way.. Ross can give you automatic 20 pts per game anytime... And most of Qatar's recruit are not that good... Sorry bro.. I will either pick Saudis over them too.. they just overhype because they are the host of world cup and they have to do something..

What has Guam achieved in Asia-Oceania basketball so far for U to believe that it is better than Qatar at present?
Qatar on the other hand has beaten Iran a few months ago which was made possible becoz of Mike Lewis & Tyler Harris. Even if current Iran team isn't as strong as the Iran team during the Haddadi & Bahrami era, Iran remains to be a decent team in Asia-Oceania basketball.

BTW, ilan ba naging lamang ng Taiwan over Guam last month? 40+ points?

 

[JAMSKIE2]

I think you're referring to the China team that Gilas beat twice, in the World Cup and the Asian Games. However, I hate to tell you that the China team from those tournaments is nowhere near the rebuilt team they fielded in the last window. The current Chinese team is already built around Hansen Yang (was on limited minutes on that window but you can see their goal of creating the team around him), with the addition of Fanbo Zeng—both of whom were not included in the WC and AG Chinese teams that Gilas beat. They’ve only retained about half of the players, including the two Zhao surnames, Zhou Qi, and Yongxi Cui.

This is essentially the same situation with Chinese Taipei. Many fans thought they were the same team that Gilas destroyed with a 50-point beatdown, not realizing they retained only 3 players from that squad. If Gilas and China were to play each other again, the outcome would be much different compared to the WC and AG, as the Chinese team has undergone a massive rebuild.

That's why I’d take Jordan over them. Regardless of how many players they retain, their team is still built with the same core players that Gilas already beat—Al-Dwairi, Ibrahim, and their NP. It’s pretty much the same situation as Gilas, who are reliant on a few players like Kai and JB.
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Yeah, parang sukat na sukat na natin yung full potential ng Jordan eh. We know that it's only RHJ, Ahmed Al-dwairi, Freddie Ibrahim & Amin Abuhawas that would play key roles for Jordan & that their bench isn't reliable. It's like we are confident na walang surprise package yung Jordan. It's like pag na handle natin yung starting 5 nila, we know there's nobody in their bench that could provide added firepower.

The same could not be said about teams like China, Lebanon, Japan, Korea, NZ, Australia, & even Taiwan.

 

[Giannis34GOD2]

I think you're referring to the China team that Gilas beat twice, in the World Cup and the Asian Games. However, I hate to tell you that the China team from those tournaments is nowhere near the rebuilt team they fielded in the last window. The current Chinese team is already built around Hansen Yang (was on limited minutes on that window but you can see their goal of creating the team around him), with the addition of Fanbo Zeng—both of whom were not included in the WC and AG Chinese teams that Gilas beat. They’ve only retained about half of the players, including the two Zhao surnames, Zhou Qi, and Yongxi Cui.

This is essentially the same situation with Chinese Taipei. Many fans thought they were the same team that Gilas destroyed with a 50-point beatdown, not realizing they retained only 3 players from that squad. If Gilas and China were to play each other again, the outcome would be much different compared to the WC and AG, as the Chinese team has undergone a massive rebuild.

That's why I’d take Jordan over them. Regardless of how many players they retain, their team is still built with the same core players that Gilas already beat—Al-Dwairi, Ibrahim, and their NP. It’s pretty much the same situation as Gilas, who are reliant on a few players like Kai and JB.
​

They are always like this, but in main tournament, they are always fumble.. their problem is already on mental side.. why I want china than Jordan? Because we can surprise them since Chinese players are not familiar with us.. the element of surprise is there.. in Jordan, they knew us, especially RHJ.. we don't have advantage on brownlee because RHJ knows him and can stop him.. and w/o Kai? I don't have confidence.. as I said nevermind if their bench are not good, RHJ remember can play full 40 mins of basketball and still able to compete despite not resting.. China has no solution how to stop brownlee, and still will be the case until now unless they will find a naturalized player to match up against him.. they are not NZL or Australia has players who can defend JB... And you know where come on offense first in CTC system, especially w/o Kai and if they stop Brownlee, same goes for Gilas already..

 

[Giannis34GOD2]

What has Guam achieved in Asia-Oceania basketball so far for U to believe that it is better than Qatar at present?
Qatar on the other hand has beaten Iran a few months ago which was made possible becoz of Mike Lewis & Tyler Harris. Even if current Iran team isn't as strong as the Iran team during the Haddadi & Bahrami era, Iran remains to be a decent team in Asia-Oceania basketball.

BTW, ilan ba naging lamang ng Taiwan over Guam last month? 40+ points?

Remember, Guam is in the East region side.. they have to face powerhouse East Asian teams early.. if Guam is in the west, they can easily 4th best West Asian team.. If Qatar is in East, they will get the same fate Guam experience because they have to face either China, Japan, Australia, etc... Just like in NBA, put Minnesota, Clippers, Denver in East conference, they can easily make the playoffs, If you put Detroit in the west conference, they are only a Play in team... Even Thailand, Indonesia and Mongolia can qualify via west region competition since the competition there is weak... Hanging up against Japan and China in previous matches is already an achievement for Guam, Qatar beat the worst possible Iran team that time.. but I don't think they can keep the game close vs China or Japan the way Guam did in previous matches... That's how tough east region competition are in Fiba Asia...

 

[Giannis34GOD2]

Yeah, parang sukat na sukat na natin yung full potential ng Jordan eh. We know that it's only RHJ, Ahmed Al-dwairi, Freddie Ibrahim & Amin Abuhawas that would play key roles for Jordan & that their bench isn't reliable. It's like we are confident na walang surprise package yung Jordan. It's like pag na handle natin yung starting 5 nila, we know there's nobody in their bench that could provide added firepower.

The same could not be said about teams like China, Lebanon, Japan, Korea, NZ, Australia, & even Taiwan.

Same goes to Jordan, they knew us.. they knew who is the best guy (w/c is Brownlee).. China and Philippines only meet just few times only and they don't know our capabilities.. in previous matches of china and Philippines, we have our numbers.. If RHJ plays on Jordan, they can beat China.. I don't see any Chinese players can match up RHJ in any occasion, from offense, defense, intensity, etc.. RHJ is a rare breed of player that can impact the team more.. w/o him, they might be outside top 5 conversation.. if he plays, A semis or finals stint is possible... Maybe they will say I'm hyping Jordan, but NO.. All forumers here knows RHJ and what he can bring whatever he will plays... that is why I'm disappointed with SBP because we have a chance to get RHJ as our naturalized player but the snub him..

 

[reamily2]

A team.whose relying on jericho cruz to play point guard/ initiate the offenseis better than qatar.. think about that. And I dont hate Guams talent is just that guard play is definitely lacking

 

[JAMSKIE2]

Remember, Guam is in the East region side.. they have to face powerhouse East Asian teams early.. if Guam is in the west, they can easily 4th best West Asian team.. If Qatar is in East, they will get the same fate Guam experience because they have to face either China, Japan, Australia, etc... Just like in NBA, put Minnesota, Clippers, Denver in East conference, they can easily make the playoffs, If you put Detroit in the west conference, they are only a Play in team... Even Thailand, Indonesia and Mongolia can qualify via west region competition since the competition there is weak... Hanging up against Japan and China in previous matches is already an achievement for Guam, Qatar beat the worst possible Iran team that time.. but I don't think they can keep the game close vs China or Japan the way Guam did in previous matches... That's how tough east region competition are in Fiba Asia...

Put Guam in the West Asia division & I still doubt it will make any significant impact in there. Lebanon, Jordan, & Iran will be ahead of Guam.

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE& Iraq would be difficult opponents for Guam. Even Syria won't be an easy opponent for Guam. I say, Guam would struggle ending up with being the No. 5 team in West Asia division.

 

[paolylo2]

Put Guam in the West Asia division & I still doubt it will make any significant impact in there. Lebanon, Jordan, & Iran will be ahead of Guam.

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE& Iraq would be difficult opponents for Guam. Even Syria won't be an easy opponent for Guam. I say, Guam would struggle ending up with being the No. 5 team in West Asia division.

You know those schools in some obscure part of town who congratulate their students for making it to UP, Ateneo, La Salle etc? That's Guam for those who leave for the mainland since they're technically Americans.

All the hype on Guam is just having these Americans who either have Chamorro blood (which is like 0.0004% of Americans), Filipinos whose parents migrated to Guam and lived long enough to acquire a US Passport like Jericho Cruz, or most definitely children of US Military servicemen or officials born in Guam (and even Northern Marianas but they're not part of FIBA, are they?).

In the grand scheme of things, they're the equivalent of an AAU team that got older. They don't have any sports after the high school level so their players are those who were good enough to play at least college outside Micronesia whether that's Hawaii or mainland USA. Are they any good? Apparently better than SEABA-level on a good day... but FIBA Asia? Slow tf down.

To conclude Guam is at the level of Qatar solely in the basis of having 12 "Americans" is typical robert logic. I've seen Qatar at their peak way back when Yaseen Ismail Mahmoud (an actual Qatari, not a naturalzed African) was a better NBA prospect than Yao Ming in the late 90's. They have a long history of being very good at FIBA Asia. Guam only became relevant when Jericho Cruz got help a few years ago.

 

[ja.he2]

Seriously? Guam is better than Qatar? Hold your t*ts right there.

I would like to ask a question: what advantage does Guam have over Middle East teams? Sure, Guam can bully Indonesia, Hong Kong and other teams on that level. But against Qatar or even against Iraq, Syria or Bahrain? Bear in mind, Guam was already struggling against smaller and thinner Mongolian and Thailand teams.

Guam had closer games against an already qualified China as well as against Japan, who only need a win to qualify. Against a serious Japanese team, Guam lost by 21. Against a serious Chinese team, Guam lost by 48. Against a serious Chinese-Taipei team, Guam lost by 40. Even against Mongolians that were on a survival mode, Guam lost by 11. Whenever teams go full-throttle, Guam was always bamboozled.

I don't get the irrational thinking that Guam will fare better against Middle East, who have the combination of size, heft, skills and physicality.

There was a time that a team B from my school got a call-up and an actual stint for Guam seniors. I know for a fact that player sucks as he had never been promoted to the team A. Jericho Cruz was not even considered to play on Chot's team, Tab's team and even for Yeng's team. In Guam, he is a starter. That's how terrible Guam is.

 

[ja.he2]

You know those schools in some obscure part of town who congratulate their students for making it to UP, Ateneo, La Salle etc? That's Guam for those who leave for the mainland since they're technically Americans.

All the hype on Guam is just having these Americans who either have Chamorro blood (which is like 0.0004% of Americans), Filipinos whose parents migrated to Guam and lived long enough to acquire a US Passport like Jericho Cruz, or most definitely children of US Military servicemen or officials born in Guam (and even Northern Marianas but they're not part of FIBA, are they?).

In the grand scheme of things, they're the equivalent of an AAU team that got older. They don't have any sports after the high school level so their players are those who were good enough to play at least college outside Micronesia whether that's Hawaii or mainland USA. Are they any good? Apparently better than SEABA-level on a good day... but FIBA Asia? Slow tf down.

To conclude Guam is at the level of Qatar solely in the basis of having 12 "Americans" is typical robert logic. I've seen Qatar at their peak way back when Yaseen Ismail Mahmoud (an actual Qatari, not a naturalzed African) was a better NBA prospect than Yao Ming in the late 90's. They have a long history of being very good at FIBA Asia. Guam only became relevant when Jericho Cruz got help a few years ago.

Northern Marianas has a national team. They played in 2022 FIBA-Micronesia Cup - the qualifier for the Pacific Games, which serves as a qualifier for the FIBA-Asia Cup Pre-Qualifiers. I'll tell you, even the worst team in UAAP and NCAA juniors can beat Northern Marianas and the rest of Micronesian teams. That's how low the competition where Guam came from.

 

[hmbopbaduwap2]

You know those schools in some obscure part of town who congratulate their students for making it to UP, Ateneo, La Salle etc? That's Guam for those who leave for the mainland since they're technically Americans.

All the hype on Guam is just having these Americans who either have Chamorro blood (which is like 0.0004% of Americans), Filipinos whose parents migrated to Guam and lived long enough to acquire a US Passport like Jericho Cruz, or most definitely children of US Military servicemen or officials born in Guam (and even Northern Marianas but they're not part of FIBA, are they?).

In the grand scheme of things, they're the equivalent of an AAU team that got older. They don't have any sports after the high school level so their players are those who were good enough to play at least college outside Micronesia whether that's Hawaii or mainland USA. Are they any good? Apparently better than SEABA-level on a good day... but FIBA Asia? Slow tf down.

To conclude Guam is at the level of Qatar solely in the basis of having 12 "Americans" is typical robert logic. I've seen Qatar at their peak way back when Yaseen Ismail Mahmoud (an actual Qatari, not a naturalzed African) was a better NBA prospect than Yao Ming in the late 90's. They have a long history of being very good at FIBA Asia. Guam only became relevant when Jericho Cruz got help a few years ago.

Yep, Yaseen made waves when he lead the World Junior Championship in scoring ahead of the likes of Juan Carlos Navarro and eventual tournament MVP Andrei Kirilenko.

 

[hmbopbaduwap2]

Northern Marianas has a national team. They played in 2022 FIBA-Micronesia Cup - the qualifier for the Pacific Games, which serves as a qualifier for the FIBA-Asia Cup Pre-Qualifiers. I'll tell you, even the worst team in UAAP and NCAA juniors can beat Northern Marianas and the rest of Micronesian teams. That's how low the competition where Guam came from.

Incidentally, Jericho first suited up for the CNMI youth team before being called up by the Guam Senior team.

https://www.saipantribune.com/news/...cle_6987faa1-d173-580c-80e2-243d058c2a1c.html

 

[reamily2]

Robert i know you watched india lately can you telm guam is miles better than india?

 

[lem0nadi2]

Guam, literally has a population of 160,000 people. For context, the Philippines has 81 provinces, if we are going to include Guam on there, they would be 74th ranked in terms of population. Pampanga/Cebu alone; with its homegrown best stars would give Guam its run for money.

They just look like good on paper atleast, because of those americanized name players, but in reality, some of those players would literally be a ligang labas caliber type of players here.

There is no way they would make a case in west region.

 

[ja.he2]

Guam, literally has a population of 160,000 people. For context, the Philippines has 81 provinces, if we are going to include Guam on there, they would be 74th ranked in terms of population. Pampanga/Cebu alone; with its homegrown best stars would give Guam its run for money.

They just look like good on paper atleast, because of those americanized name players, but in reality, some of those players would literally be a ligang labas caliber type of players here.

There is no way they would make a case in west region.

People were hyped on Guam because they looked good prior to this qualifying window, forgetting that their opponents are ASEAN teams, Hong Kong, Mongolia and Macau.

 

[FilWelsh2]

People were hyped on Guam because they looked good prior to this qualifying window, forgetting that their opponents are ASEAN teams, Hong Kong, Mongolia and Macau.

Guam may also have special status with FIBA just like other US territory Puerto Rico…. Guam are unincorporated American territory which means all players in their NT are citizens of USA…. I think any American players can play for Guam as long as they can establish their links such as residency as such actually lived in the island for a certain period; one of their parents or grandparents were born there or even just marrying a Guam islander I think would be suffice…