Asian Games 2014 Basketball Schedule: Previewing Men's Quarterfinal Round
Men's basketball at the 2014 Asian Games inches toward its inevitable conclusion, with the quarterfinals set to tip off on Friday.
The eight teams still alive in the tournament made it this far by finishing in the top two of their respective preliminary group. Rather than a standard knockout-style quarterfinal, though, the Asian Cup continues round-robin play to determine whom will qualify for the semifinals.
You can view the schedule below courtesy of the Asian Games' official site.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
| Sept. 26 | China vs. Mongolia | 1 a.m. ET; 6 a.m. BST |
| Sept. 26 | Iran vs. Japan | 5:30 a.m. ET; 10:30 a.m. BST |
| Sept. 27 | Mongolia vs. Iran | 1 a.m. ET; 6 a.m. BST |
| Sept. 27 | Japan vs. China | 5:30 a.m. ET; 10:30 a.m. BST |
| Sept. 28 | Iran vs. China | 2:15 a.m. ET; 7:15 a.m. BST |
| Sept. 28 | Mongolia vs. Japan | 6:45 a.m. ET; 11:45 a.m. BST |
| Sept. 26 | Kazakhstan vs. South Korea | 1 a.m. ET; 6 a.m. BST |
| Sept. 26 | Philippines vs. Qatar | 5:30 a.m. ET; 10:30 a.m. BST |
| Sept. 27 | South Korea vs. Philippines | 1 a.m. ET; 6 a.m. BST |
| Sept. 27 | Qatar vs. Kazakhstan | 5:30 a.m. ET; 10:30 a.m. BST |
| Sept. 28 | Philippines vs. Kazakhstan | 2:15 a.m. ET; 7:15 a.m. BST |
| Sept. 28 | South Korea vs. Qatar | 6:45 a.m. ET; 11:45 a.m. BST |
The three players below will almost certainly have a big say on how the round unfolds. They've been the cream of the crop throughout the Asian Games.
Players to Watch
Sanchir Tungalag, Mongolia
Sanchir Tungalag is among the top scorers remaining, averaging 21.4 points a game. Throughout the tournament, he's been one of the most explosive offensive players.
His contribution to the team hasn't been limited to just scoring. Sanchir is also fifth in rebounds at 7.6 a game.
Asian basketball blogger Nick Bedard has the 25-year-old on his All-Asia team:
One thing that tends to get overlooked when looking at players is how often they're fouled. That's generally a testament as to how much of a threat the opponent views the player at which you're looking. In five games, Sanchir's been fouled a whopping 34 times, which averages out to 6.8 times a game. The next guy on the list has been fouled 5.7 times a game.
There's no question that Mongolia's success will hinge largely on Sanchir's performance. If he struggles, the whole team will struggle.
Anton Ponomarev, Kazakhstan
Few teams can counter Kazakhstan's strength inside, and a large part of that is down to Anton Ponomarev, who's averaging nearly a double-double a game. Throwing up 11.8 points and 9.4 rebounds a night is good no matter how you look at it.
Despite standing 6'10", Ponomarev isn't afraid to launch it from long range either. While by no means a three-point specialist, he can hurt you from behind the three-point line if you give him enough space.
Ponomarev has been a key figure for Kazakhstan for a while now, going back to when the country placed fourth at the 2007 Asia Championship.
When the 25-year-old is building confidence on the court and finding a zone, he's nearly unplayable for the opposition. You just hope he eventually falls back to earth at some point.
One only needs to look back at Kazakhstan's loss to China in the preliminary round to see Ponomarev's importance to the team. He scored 11 points on the night but shot 1-of-10 from the floor and grabbed four boards.
Another performance like that and Kazakhstan might not reach the semifinals.
Anatoliy Kolesnikov, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan will rely heavily on Ponomarev, but they can also ask Anatoliy Kolesnikov to step up in the event things start going pear-shaped. Kolesnikov leads the Kazakhs in scoring with 14.6 points.
He's coming off a 2013-14 season with Astana after which he won the award for the VTB United League's Top Kazakh Player.
His humility shone through during his interview with VTB-League.com.
"It's a big honor. I didn't have any big games this season and didn't hit any game-winning shots, but I tried to help my team out," said Kolesnikov. "This individual award is the first of my career and now I'll have even more motivation to work and progress further."
His biggest night of the Asian Games so far came in the preliminary round against Chinese Taipei. Kolesnikov went for 18 points and nine assists in a 74-68 win. That victory eventually propelled Kazakhstan through to the quarterfinals.
Of course, Kazakhstan's reliance on Kolesnikov was laid bare in the next game, a 76-59 loss to China. He shot 2-of-7 from the floor and scored four points on the night.
Kazakhstan can survive if Ponomarev has an off night, but when he and Kolesnikov are both below their best, the Kazakhs will be facing a serious uphill battle.
Note: All stats are courtesy of the Asian Games' official site.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
