Q'finals-bound Taipei not looking past Japan and Qatar

MANILA, Philippines – Chinese Taipei is already assured of a slot in the knockout stage of the 27th FIBA Asia championships after routing Hong Kong 94-55 on Monday but Coach Chin-Che Hsu is not looking past the second round.

The Taiwanese have two assignments left in the second round against Japan on Tuesday and Qatar the next day.

“Japan is a strong team it is going to be a difficult game. They have good post players but we have Quincy (Davis) and he is great defensive player,” said Hsu.

“Qatar has an NBA player and they are a very tough team,” he added referring to Qatar naturalized player Jarvis Hayes, who is a former NBA first round pick.

Probed about their preferred opponent in the knockout stage, Coach Hsu is quick to dismiss their plans for the next round and reiterated their focus for the second round.

“I don’t want to think about it yet. We are focusing on our game against Japan tomorrow after that we will focus on Qatar,” said Hsu.

The Taiwanese coach believes that the key to their win against Hong Kong is their flawless execution in their offense, giving them a huge blowout victory.

“I think we executed well and we were patient on offense that is why we had a big lead,” said Hsu, whose wards moved the ball around well resulting to a scintillating 58% shooting from the field.