Drawing Interest

     The groupings of the upcoming 26th FIBA-Asia Championships have been drawn and much has been said about how the Philippines got a favorable draw.  Here are other interesting tidbits about the draw.

• China, as the host (yet again), had their choice of groups and they picked Group D where the Philippines is.  Coach Rajko Toroman says it's because our group is the easiest and it's good for the Philippines, since we won't meet China in an elimination game until possibly the finals.  I say it works the other way around too.  Since 1990, China has never really blown away the Philippines in a knockout game, with leads averaging 9 or 10 points.  Now with Marcus Douthit and Toroman, they may want to avoid us in the knockout stages too.

• Think Smart Gilas' previous hard work didn't pay off?  In the draw, the Philippines were seeded, avoiding Qatar, Lebanon and Japan by virtue of Gilas' semis finish in the last Stankovic Cup.  The only tough prelim opponent is China who chose to be in our group. Had they not, we could have had Jordan join us in Group D and topping the prelims could've been a cinch.

• Is there a conspiracy against Asia? Despite being the most populous and largest continent, Asia is being given only one slot.  Europe and the Americas get two slots each (plus Europe gets an extra slot as the United Kingdom is seeded).  Even Oceana has a slot even if it's composed of two countries.  There are three available slots in the qualifying tournament, but even there, Asia is an underdog. Only the 2nd and 3rd placed Asian teams will join the qualifiers, while Europe and the Americas get to send 3rd to 5th placers.

•  This edition of the FIBA-Asia Championships' version of the group of death seems to be Group B, with Iran, Qatar, Taiwan and possibly Kazakhstan.  It's a very real possibility that Taiwan may not get through the first round this time.