2013 FIBA Asia Championship: Chinese Taipei shocks China to earn semis slot against Iran

Chinese Taipei scored the biggest upset of the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship as they dethroned defending champions China, 96-78, on Friday at the MOA Arena, to advance to the semifinals against powerhouse Iran.

Down 50-40 after the first half, Chinese Taipei went on a spirited run to claim the lead at the 6:48 mark of the third. They then continued their hot shooting from the field to build a nine-point lead heading into the final frame, which they maintained the rest of the way until the final buzzer.

“We came into this game thinking that we will just do our best,” said Chinese Taipei head coach Hsu Chin-Che. “It was an incredible game for us.”

While Chinese Taipei’s offense was running on all cylinders, China groped for form in the second half as no other player aside from Yi Jianlian could get anything going.

Chinese Taipei import Quincy Davis played the game of his life as he scored 26 points, grabbed 10 boards and swatted three shots with only two and a half minutes rest. Tsai Wen-Cheng, Lin Chih-Chieh, Tien Lee, and Hung Chih-Shan all poured in baskets in the second half run to complete the upset against China.

With their shooters hitting from outside and Davis dominating inside, Chinese Taipei outscored China 31-12 in a crucial third quarter, for a 19-point turnaround.

“They were trying to play fancy basketball. In the first half, we played well. In the second half, we stopped playing,” said China head coach Panagiotis Giannakis. “We stopped playing defense in the second half. We gave Taiwan an opportunity to stay in the game. We let them make easy baskets. We have the talent but we need to change our mindset.”

Yi Jianlian opened the game with a basket for China. Two triples from Zhu Fangyu sandwiched a triple from Hung for an 8-3 Chinese lead.

Wang Shipeng and Wang Zhizhi then added five straight points for China before Quincy Davis stopped the bleeding at the 7:29 mark with a hook shot. The score was 13-5 at that point with China still holding the lead.

Another basket by Davis got Chinese Taipei to within four points, but Zhu converted on a fast break layup for his eighth point of the quarter to give China a 17-11 lead.

After Wang Zhizhi committed an unsportsmanlike foul, Tien Lei made two free throws followed by another Davis hook to trim China's lead down to two at 17-15.

Chinese Taipei committed multiple turnovers late in the first quarter and that allowed China to get a 28-20 lead after the first 10 minutes.

Lu Cheng-Ju finally got on the board to trim China's lead down to four points, but Wang Zhelin and Wang Shipeng answered with 11 straight points for a 41-24 count in their favor with 6:11 left in the first half.

A baseline fallaway jumper from Lin Chi-Chieh ended China's run, to bring the lead down to 15 points. Hung Chih-Shan ate further into their deficit by sinking a long three at the buzzer, to make it just a 10-point game at 50-40, heading into the halftime break.

“We allowed them to dictate the tempo in the in the first half,” shared Hung after the game. “But in the second half we paid attention to the details our coach was talking about. We also limited our turnovers.”

Chinese Taipei import Quincy Davis led all scorers at the half with 15 points. Hung and Tsai backed him up with six points each.

Wang Shipeng led China with 12 points at the half with Zhu adding 11 and Wang Zhelin chipping in 10.  

Tsai Wen-Cheng scored the first three points of the third quarter to cut China’s lead down to seven, 50-43. Hung then added another triple, followed by a two-handed dunk from Davis to cut the lead down to a single basket at 50-48.

After China called a timeout, Chinese Taipei completed a stop leading to another Davis basket to knot the game at 50-all.

The Taipei run was finally ended by a Yi dunk at the 7:00 mark, but Tien Lei sank a three on the other end to grab Chinese Taipei’s first lead of the ball game. Lu added a fallaway jumper for a three-point Chinese Taipei lead at 55-52.

Yi tried to carry the load for China but Lu, Tien, and Tsai waxed hot from the field to extend Chinese Taipei’s lead to six at 62-58.

Lin added a triple at the 3:10 mark to give his team a 65-58 lead, then Tseng Wen-Ting found Davis for a layup, which was quickly followed by a Tsai basket with only 23 seconds left in the third, to build Chinese Taipei’s largest lead of the game. The score was 71-62 heading into the final period.

With nothing else working for China, Yi took it upon himself to try and bring China back into the game. He scored with a long jumper, but Chinese Taipei retaliated with an and-one play from Davis for a 10-point Chinese Taipei lead.

Tsai added to China’s woes with a three-point play at the 6:33 mark, for a 79-67 lead. Davis then scored off a beautiful pass from Lin to extend their buffer to 14 points.

After a free throw from Wang Shipeng, Lin drove in and completed a three-point play for an 84-68 count for Taipei. Wang Shipeng however sank a triple halfway into the fourth quarter to cut the lead down to 13 points.

With their lead down to 11, Tien Lei faked off his defender and drove in for a two-handed slam for an 87-74 count, still Chinese Taipei up. With just under a minute left, Lin then connected on a dagger triple, to make it 94-72 and clinch the triumph.

“That’s basketball,” lamented Wang Zhizhi after the game. This was the first time that the Chinese veteran lost to Chinese Taipei in his career. “Please be patient with Chinese basketball,” he also pleaded.

Aside from Davis, Taipei got big numbers from Tsai When-Cheng, who poured in 21 markers on 7-of-10 shooting, along with seven rebounds and two assists. Lin Chih-Chieh added 17 points off the bench with seven dimes, while Tien Lei and Hung Chih-Shan combined to go 6-of-10 from downtown, en route to 24 markers put together.

China got 22 points and 10 rebounds from Yi Jianlian, while Wang Shipeng poured in 17 points, but they got precious little from their supporting cast.

All-in-all, Taipei scorched the nets with 60 percent shooting, including converting 10-of-20 three-pointers. China in contrast shot a strong 45 percent from the field, but were just 7-of-24 from range. Taipei also had an overwhelming advantage in points in the paint, 42-26, to complement their shooting.

China managed to double up on turnover points, 16-8, but that was the only bright side for the team. - RAF, GMA News


The scores:

Chinese Taipei 96 – Davis 26, Tsai 21, Lin 17, Tien 13, Hung 11, , Lu 7, Yang 1, Tseng 0, Lee 0, Chen 0, Chou 0, Creighton 0

China 78 – Yi 22, Wang Shipeng 17, Zhu 11, Wang Zhelin 10, Wang Zhizhi 9, Zhou 7, Guo 2, Liu 0, Chen 0, Sun 0, Li 0, Zhang 0

Quarter scoring: 20-28, 40-50, 71-62, 96-78