Geographical anomaly

In qualifying for 5x5 basketball in the Tokyo Olympics, the seven best teams from five continents out of the previous FIBA World Cup gained automatic tickets. The breakdown is one each from Africa, Asia and Oceania and two each from Europe and the Americas. A qualifier is Iran, the highest-ranked Asian team at No. 23 in the World Cup. Another slot is for host country Japan. Since the competition is for 12 teams, the four remaining spots go to the winners of four Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs) to be held from June 22 to July 4 in Canada, Croatia, Lithuania and Serbia. Participating in the OQTs are 24 countries split into six for each tournament. The 24 countries are the 16 best teams from the 2019 FIBA World Cup not directly qualified to the Olympics plus the next two best teams in the continental championships of Africa, the Americas, Europe and Asia/Oceania. Making it to the OQTs from Asia/Oceania are New Zealand (No. 19 in the World Cup), South Korea (No. 3 in the Asia Cup) and China (No. 5 in the Asia Cup).

There appears to be a contradiction in geographical recognition for the Olympics and the World Cup. For the Olympics, Oceania is considered a separate continent as it should be. But in qualifying for the World Cup, Oceania and Asia are lumped together. Starting in 2017, countries from Oceania were welcomed to the FIBA Asia Cup which was not renamed FIBA Asia/Oceania Cup. Are Australians and New Zealanders now classified as Asians in the new world order? Yet in qualifying for the Olympics, Oceania is recognized as a separate zone.

In a brochure explaining the competition system for each continent, it is mentioned that “Asia and Oceania (are) to play together in an Asia Region to ensure competitive games.” In Oceania, there are only two legitimate contenders Australia and New Zealand but it’s no fault of theirs. The first Oceania tournament was held in 1971 and its last in 2015. There are 22 countries under Oceania. Aside from Australia and New Zealand, they are American Samoa, Cook Islands, Micronesia, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, East Timor, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

In the 2014 FIBA World Cup, there were 24 teams, including three from Asia and two from Oceania. In the 2019 FIBA World Cup, there were 32 teams and the consolidated Asia/Oceania zone was awarded seven slots.

When Australia joined the FIBA Asia Cup in 2017, every other team just played for second place. The Boomers were unbeaten in six games and ran roughshod over the opposition by an average winning margin of 28.8 points. Australia crushed Chinese-Taipei by 40, China by 26, New Zealand by 27 and Iran by 23. And Australia didn’t even suit up a single NBA player. So can you imagine a lineup with Ben Simmons, Patty Mills, Aron Baynes, Joe Ingles, Dante Exum and Matthew Dellavedova? The Philippines’ last championship in Asia came in 1986 with coach Ron Jacobs calling the shots. With Australia playing in Asia, how realistic is Gilas’ dream of someday making it back on top of the continent? And how realistic is it that Australia is now part of Asia?