CHINESE Taipei won’t have one of its dead shots suiting up in the 31st FIBA Asia Cup.
Chun Hsiang Lu, who torched Gilas Pilipinas with his deft outside shooting in the Taiwanese’s 91-84 win in the qualifiers six months ago, has been left out of the final roster by the team due to an injury.
The 6-foot-2 Lu went 7-of-14 from the floor to finish with 18 points, and 4-of-9 from three-point range including the dagger trey with 47 seconds left that put Chinese Taipei up, 89-84, in its second meeting with Gilas in Taiwan.
READ Cone wary of Taipei's US-based Hinton brothers
He averaged 12.0 points, 2.0 assists, and 2.6 steals in the second half of the qualifiers when he suited up for Chinese Taipei, including shooting 36 percent from the three-point range.
Lu hurt his ankle during the Basketball Champions League Asia less than two months ago during Taoyuan Pilots’ 89-73 win over the Changwon LG Sakers. He never returned to active duty and missed out on the remainder of the tournament.
But the rest of Chinese Taipei’s key players will be there.
The trio of Ting Chien Li, Mohammad Gadiaga, and Chien Hao Ma are in the roster after combining for 56 points in the win over Gilas, while accounting for 10 of the 15 three pointers Chinese Taipei dropped against the Filipinos.
Naturalized player Brandon Gilbeck, who was 4-of-5 from the floor for eight points, eight rebounds, and five shotblocks, remains as the premier interior defender for Taipei.
Then there's the Hinton brothers, too, US-based Robert and Adam, who will be facing Gilas Pilipinas for the first time.
While the absence of Lu is a welcome development for Gilas, coach Tim Cone said it's no time for the national team to let its guard down.
Never mind that Gilas has won back-to-back friendlies against the Macau Black Bears and the Jordan national team.
“We feel better about ourselves going against Taiwan. We’ve done a lot of work, we’ve watched a lot of videos, so we feel we’re prepared in that respect,” he said. But actually, we’re walking the talk. We’re doing a lot of talking, but we’ve got to walk in.”
Gilas and Chinese Taipei clash on opening day at the King Abdullah Sports Center in Jeddah on Wednesday morning at 2 a.m. (Manila time).
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