By Ian Chew

Hands up those who have heard of Fiba 33 basketball before the current Asian Youth Games.

Watching it played by the athletic 15 and 16-year-olds from all over Asia was certainly an eye-opening experience for me!

Instead of the normal four quarters of 10 minutes played in a full basketball court, the Fiba 33 game is played in three periods consisting of five minutes each in a half-court. What’s more, whichever team reaches 33 points first will be declared the winner.

One would normally assume that such a shortened game would be a walk in the park compared to the original game made famous by the NBA stars.

It couldn’t be further from the truth.

Every second spent on court is intense and full of activity for every player, with absolutely no opportunity to catch a breath. You are either aggressively attacking the basket or harrying your opponent in defense.

Having good understanding of this fact was one of the reasons for China’s big win over Singapore and probably one of the reasons why they went on to lift the trophy.

Coming in with a team of four players with approximately the same height (very tall!) and standards of play, the Chinese coach judiciously used his substitutions to allow all his players short breathers throughout the game.

Although Singapore managed to hold China to a creditable 8-11 deficit after the first quarter, the Chinese bench surged to an insurmountable 23-12 lead by end of the second quarter.

Another myth about the game which was thoroughly smashed in the Iran-versus-Philippines match was this: you need tall players to win.

Towering at about two metres, the Iranian team had made their Philippine opponents look like midgets and looked set to crush them in their match-up.

Unfortunately, someone forgot to pass the script to the Filipinos.

Displaying exceptional individual skills, good teamwork coupled with a never-say-die spirit, the Philippine team came back from a huge deficit in the first quarter to pip the mighty Iranians 27-26 at the final buzzer in what was easily the most exciting game of the day.

While the Phillippines team was busy celebrating their unlikely win, their South East Asian counterpart Thailand showed that patience is a key in this game.

Though the more prepared of the two teams, Thailand suffered visibly from pre-match nerves to fall behind early to a plucky UAE side 2-9.

Yet the game lasts for all of the three periods and the Thai coach must have been well aware of that. Refusing to panic even when his team was down 11-12 after the second quarter, the Thai team picked up pace in the final quarter to finish victoriously 22-18.

In contrast, the UAE coach was tearing his hair out at the sidelines shouting at his players, but that was to no avail against a steadily iimproving Thai side who ran their set-plays to perfection.

There you have it – three lessons learnt in a day. What more can one ask?

Highlights of the first quarter of Singapore vs China:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guijCMR6oUc

Highlights of the second quarter of Singapore vs China:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RWtl_RobDA

Highlights of the third quarter of Singapore vs China:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUEfeKZqnj0

Highlights of the second quarter of Philippines vs Iran:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C8AjJcTzzY

Highlights of the third quarter of Philippines vs Iran:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TigVcWuw5bc

Highlights of the third quarter of Thailand vs UAE:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn7fMHSXGkc