You're talking about teams Australia soundly beat in the Asia Cup, or that lost to weaker teams in the Asia Cup. Australia's current NBL team will comfortably beat any of those teams. it's just it wont necessarily be eye catching to watch.

NO! The teams they send in Fiba Asia cup are B/C teams. So we don't beat their full str team. Like yi and qui is not there. nikka and cardoust. Lassiter and Slaughter. So definitely not the teams that they send in the Fiba asia cup. And common NZ is weak as hell.

We don't play China in the qualification rounds, so that doesn't matter.

Of course there is a chance for us to lose to the Philippines and Iran, but the former in particular is pretty unlikely - they barely got past Japan and Chinese Taipei.

Our results against Japan, Chinese Taipei and the Philippines are aggregated with our results against - likely to be - Kazakhstan, Iran and Iraq.

We only need to finish top 3 based on the aggregated results, so your question probably won't matter unless we dramatically and consistently under-perform.

Not likely.

I'm not sure about that. I mean yes we beat japan an taiwan with large margins and the Phils barely escape the W. But they don't have their full line up and some of the players are out of shape especially Andray Blatch. Come february they will be well prepared to fight us.

Regarding Iran with some adjustment and complete line up they will bring a competition this time compared to the last fiba asia cup. I still believe full strength China is unbeatable w/out our Nba players. Just my 2 cents.

Do our European players become available in Feb? If so you can forget talks of the other teams beating us.

If they are available then surely a W is sure for us! But if not it's like 50/50. Remember the Japan game we can't pull away until the 3rd quarter. :)

As an avid watcher of all things FIBA, I can't agree with Fritz that the FIBA Asia Cup was played by all round B/C teams, but rather a few withdrawals per team. Consider:
Philippines- opted for Fil/German Stanhardinger over Blatche as a naturalised player. The argument could and is being made that Standardinger offers more than Blatche overall, when you consider the latter's lack of condition, defence and hustle. Five star but unmotivated Blatche or three star but committed Standardinger?

I assume Fritz is Fili/Australian because Lassiter is nearly always a withdrawal when NT duty comes around and Slaughter plays for an owner who is hostile to releasing players for NT duty. He may also be considered a naturalised player given his Fil/Am status.

China- Team Red/Team Blue- Australia won't face a full strength Chinese NT until the 2019 worlds.

Iran- Have moved on from Bahrami and Kardoust, with only Haddadi from the 2008 Olympic team remaining. As it is, will probably represent the biggest one game Australian threat given Haddadi. However, he played the Asian Cup out of shape and only because their federation insisted, although a fly in the ointment is playing at altitude in Teheran.

Some other NT have upgraded since the Asian Cup, including Jordan and Iraq, with high usage naturalised players, while South Korea plan to bring in some muscle and naturalise Ricardo Ratliff. Keep in mind that prominent Boomers to come back for February are Lisch, Bairstow and Jawai (all played at Olmypics or WC and fill needs outside of the NBA crew), while NBA and top Euro players will be available for the June and September windows. In the case of Motum and Bolden, playing in say, Iran, Jordan or Lebanon will be only a short jump from their current bases.

Sorry a bit exaggeration. They fielded more of an A/B team with some +/- tweaks. I would still get 50 percent 2014 Fiba world cup Blatche than a committed Standhardinger.

I love your observation. But the last time I checked I have an american passport. Living in LA for the past 10 years. Anyway I live in and out of Australia for about 2 years and so. The racism for asians is much higher there compared here. But don't get me wrong I have a lot of Aussie friends. It's like my 3rd home. :) Lassiter already committed to play this 2018 also Slaughther. No issues about the 7'1 giant he already played in fiba sanction tournament when he was younger. So a fit Blatche and almost complete line up boomers are in for a treat w/out Nba and Euro players.

Regarding the Chinese team I was not particular with the qualifying. What I meant was A full strength Chinese team vs the current boomers team.

As for me I don't care about the other asian countries they just don't have the tools do beat Australia. Of course save China, Iran and the Philippines. Ricardo will be ready for korea this 2018 the much needed presence in the middle. Would love to Lisch, Bairstow and Jawai play for the 2nd window. All in all it is good for Asian basketball landscape.

Anonymous with our current line up vs full strength China team. LOL. You're the one who should drink beer after a disastrous game. hahaha. LOL.