source: Joaquin Henson | philstar.com

There’s a move to add a third team to represent Asia in the FIBA under-17 world championships in Hamburg next year and it’s because of widespread suspicion that China used overaged players in bulldozing the opposition to win the regional qualifiers in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, recently.

Only two slots are allocated for Asia in the Hamburg tournament and they were awarded to the finalists of the FIBA-Asia under-16 competition last Nov. 19-27. But third placer Iran has protested China’s win, claiming the winning team was beefed up by players over the age limit.

Iran took third place by virtue of an 83-73 overtime win over the Philippines in a playoff.

Adding a third Asian team in the Hamburg conclave won’t teach China a lesson if evidence shows the illegal use of overaged players. If there is proof of enlisting ringers, China should be stripped of the championship and prohibited from representing Asia in the FIBA tournament. That would elevate runner-up South Korea and Iran to fly the Asian colors in Hamburg.

China has long been suspected of tampering with players’ birthdays to suit age-group limits in international competitions. It was recently reported that Chinese national player Zhang Qingpeng’s year of birth has been randomly shifted from 1985 to 1981, depending on the age-group tournament.

An unimpeachable piece of evidence proving age tampering is found in the NBA record books that show Chinese national player Wang Zhizhi’s real birthday to be July 8, 1977. At the 1999 FIBA-Asia championships in Fukuoka, Wang filed July 8, 1979, as his birthday to be consistent with previous age-group competitions. The two-year disparity was never brought up as an issue against China before FIBA.

In Johor Bahru, not a few eyebrows were raised when China suited up players who looked old enough to be in the seniors team. Some of the players literally dwarfed the Filipino teenagers brought to Malaysia by coach Eric Altamirano. Among the Chinese behemoths were 6-11 Xu Tao, 6-9 Zhu Xuhang, 6-9 Zhu Xiaochuan and 6-7 Ju Mingxin.

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The results of the games in the under-16 tournament clearly set China way ahead of the pack. In the finals, China demolished South Korea, 104-69. The margin of 35 points was glaring. In a quarterfinal pairing, China crushed South Korea by 70, 121-51. China was so dominant that the scores in wins over other countries were almost laughable – by 47 over Chinese-Taipei, 108-61, by 73 over Jordan, 117-44, by 80 over Saudi Arabia, 109-29, by 74 over India, 121-47, by 50 over Japan, 115-65.

The only country to give China a little fright was, believe it or not, the Philippines.

It was in the semifinals when unbeaten China faced the Philippines, a 76-70 loser to Iran in the quarters.

The match pitted boys against men. The Filipinos’ biggest player was 6-2 Kevin Ferrer and six were under six feet with the average height generously placed at 5-11.

But the Filipinos battled China tooth and nail from the start, refusing to give an inch in racing to an early 17-7 advantage. Writer Chen Hui Jing marvelled at the Filipino’s display of quickness as the underdogs scored their first 12 points on breakaway layups. At the end of the first period, the Philippines was on top by four, 19-15.

China stormed back to start the second quarter behind a 10-0 blast but the Philippines retaliated to tie the score, 28-all, with four minutes left in the first half. Kiefer Ravena had a chance to regain the lead for the Philippines but missed a layup after eluding two defenders with a dizzying spin move. China managed to surge ahead but only by four, 36-32, at the turn.

China tried to pull away in the third quarter but the Philippines refused to oblige, staying close. China’s lead was eight at the end of three periods, 55-47. The outcome was far from settled.

Eventually, China wore down the much smaller Filipinos and won, 85-66.

“If basketball was a 10-minute game, we would have played witness to the greatest upset of the tournament,” wrote Chen. “And for three quarters, the Filipino boys gave China a run for their money, the first time any team has ever done so in this tournament. The Filipino boys played with a lot of heart and even though they lost, this semifinal match can be considered one of the best games of the tournament. The Philippines came out prepared to make a statement, that they were not afraid of the towering Chinese.”

Chinese coach Fan Bin admitted his players got nervous when the Philippines turned on the heat. “We made some defensive adjustments to deal with the Filipino penetration,” he said. “My boys got nervous as this game did not proceed as smoothly as the previous games we played.”

Altamirano joked that his hope is to find a pill to make his players grow taller.

“China was just too tall for us,” he said.

“At the end of the day, it’s still height that matters. You have to play a perfect game to beat China and we didn’t play a perfect game.”

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Altamirano said he owes a lot to national coach Rajko Toroman for his guidance and counsel.

“Coach Rajko was with us in Cebu when we played Iran, Chinese-Taipei and Japan in the warm-ups,” said Altamirano. “Even in Malaysia, I was in contact with him for his inputs. I’ve learned a lot from him. It would be an honor for me to serve in his staff with the senior men’s team.”

Altamirano paid tribute to his own staff for the semifinal finish in Malaysia – assistants Joey Guanio, Mon Jose and Vic Ycasiano with conditioning coach Dan Rose and physical therapist Jimbo Corre.

But Altamirano said the players deserve all the credit – Keifer Ravena, Von Pessumal, Jeron Teng, Dan Sara, Ferrer, Angelo Alolino, Romero, Labing-isa, Jeoff Javillonar, Nestor Bantayan, Michael Pate and Cris Tolomia.

“We brought the best of our under-16 players to Malaysia,” said Altamirano. “We’re hoping to retain the nucleus for a FIBA-Asia under-18 tournament next year. Eventually, the outstanding players will move up to the senior men’s program with coach Toroman.”

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