EASL Champions Week
| File:2023 EASL Champions Week logo.svg | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | Japan |
| Dates | 1–5 March 2023 |
| Season | 2023 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | South Korea Anyang KGC |
| Runners-up | South Korea Seoul SK Knights |
| Third place | Hong Kong Bay Area Dragons |
| Fourth place | Japan Ryukyu Golden Kings |
| Awards | |
| Best player | United States Omari Spellman (Anyang)[1] |
The EASL Champions Week was a pre-season tournament of the East Asia Super League, an international basketball club competition involving teams from domestic leagues in Japan, South Korea, Philippines and Taiwan, as well as a franchise team representing Greater China.[2][3] The Champions Week was held from 1 to 5 March 2023.[4]
The Champions Week was conceptualized after the regular season was postponed. The regular season was originally scheduled to be held from 12 October 2022 to February 2023, under a home and away format and a Final Four knockout stage.[5]
The winners received USD 250,000, while the runners-up and third-place teams received USD 100,000 and USD 50,000, respectively.[6][7]
Team allocation
[edit | edit source]The eight teams which qualified for the then-2022–23 EASL season qualified for the Champions Week.[8] Four leagues are represented for the 2023 EASL. The champions and runners-up of the Japan B.League and the Korean Basketball League[9] as well as the champions of Taiwan's P. League+[10] Hong Kong based Bay Area Chun Yu Phoenixes, a franchise team not part of any domestic league also participated. The league considers the P. League+ champions and the Phoenixes as representatives of "Greater China".[5] For the Philippines, the top two finishing teams of the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup qualified.[11]
| League | Country or region | Berths |
|---|---|---|
| EASL (franchise team) | File:Flag of Hong Kong.svg Hong Kong | 1 |
| P. League+ | File:Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg Chinese Taipei[a] | 1 |
| B.League | File:Flag of Japan.svg Japan | 2 |
| Korean Basketball League | File:Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea | 2 |
| Philippine Basketball Association | File:Flag of the Philippines.svg Philippines | 2 |
Qualified teams
[edit | edit source]| Team | Domestic league standing |
|---|---|
| Hong Kong Bay Area Dragons | N/A (EASL franchise) |
| Chinese Taipei Taipei Fubon Braves | 2021–22 P. League+ champions |
| Japan Utsunomiya Brex | 2021–22 B.League champions |
| Japan Ryukyu Golden Kings | 2021–22 B.League runners-up |
| South Korea Seoul SK Knights | 2021–22 Korean Basketball League champions |
| South Korea Anyang KGC | 2021–22 Korean Basketball League runners-up |
| Philippines San Miguel Beermen | 2022 PBA Philippine Cup champions |
| Philippines TNT Tropang Giga | 2022 PBA Philippine Cup runners-up |
Imports
[edit | edit source]Each team can select two foreigners into active roster in each game,[12] plus an Asian heritage import or naturalized player.[13]
Venues
[edit | edit source]Games were held in Japan, on the home venues of the two qualified Japanese teams – Utsunomiya Brex and the Ryukyu Golden Kings. There were ten games in total. Utsunomiya hosted six of the eight group stage games, while Ryukyu hosted the remaining two games, as well as the third place game and final.[14][15]
| Okinawa City | Utsunomiya | EASL Champions Week (Japan) |
|---|---|---|
| Okinawa Arena | Nikkan Arena Tochigi | |
| Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 5,000 | |
| File:Okinawa arena 1.jpg | File:Exterior of Main Arena, Nikkan Arena Tochigi.jpg |
Draw
[edit | edit source]The official draw for the 2022–23 EASL season was held on 28 June 2022 at the Shangri-La at the Fort, Manila in Taguig.[16][17] For the Champions Week the groupings were retained.[8]
The teams were drawn in two groups. A coin flipping mechanic was used; each champion in each domestic league was to choose a coin side. The winner of the coin flip was placed on Group A while the other placed in Group B.[11][18] The identity of the Philippine representatives were yet to be determined at the time of the draw.
Another draw was held to determine the schedule of the games.[8]
Group stage
[edit | edit source]On 10 January 2023, EASL released the full schedule for the tournament.[19] Each team in each of the two groups would face only two of three of the other teams in their group unlike in a traditional round robin format.[20]
Group A
[edit | edit source]<section begin=ga />
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Korea Anyang KGC | 2 | 2 | 0 | 236 | 156 | +80 | 4[b] | Final |
| 2 | Japan Ryukyu Golden Kings | 2 | 2 | 0 | 179 | 146 | +33 | 4[b] | Third place game |
| 3 | Chinese Taipei Taipei Fubon Braves | 2 | 0 | 2 | 147 | 177 | −30 | 2 | |
| 4 | Philippines San Miguel Beermen | 2 | 0 | 2 | 155 | 238 | −83 | 2 |
Notes:
- ^ Taiwan, officially Republic of China. The organizers of the EASL[5] and FIBA uses the designation of "Chinese Taipei".
- ^ a b Anyang KGC +80 PD, Ryukyu Golden Kings +33 PD.[21]
<section end=ga />
1 March 2023
17:00 |
| Taipei Fubon Braves Chinese Taipei | 69–94 | South Korea Anyang KGC |
| Scoring by quarter: 19–24, 17–25, 21–22, 12–23 | ||
| Pts: Zaytsev 20 Rebs: Singletary 15 Asts: Singletary 6 |
Pts: Spellman 22 Rebs: Monroe 25 Asts: Monroe 7 | |
Nikkan Arena Tochigi, Utsunomiya
|
<section begin=GA1 />
2 March 2023
19:30 |
| Ryukyu Golden Kings Japan | 96–68 | Philippines San Miguel Beermen |
| Scoring by quarter: 24–17, 25–11, 21–20, 26–20 | ||
| Pts: Cooley, Imamura 20 Rebs: Cooley, Durham 16 Asts: Durham 7 |
Pts: Clark 25 Rebs: Tautuaa 10 Asts: Enciso 6 | |
Nikkan Arena Tochigi, Utsunomiya
|
4 March 2023
16:00 |
| Anyang KGC South Korea | 142–87 | Philippines San Miguel Beermen |
| Scoring by quarter: 40–20, 29–16, 40–29, 33–22 | ||
| Pts: Spellman 53 Rebs: Monroe 17 Asts: Monroe 14 |
Pts: Clark 35 Rebs: Clark 10 Asts: Perez 5 | |
<section end=GA1 />
4 March 2023
19:00 |
| Ryukyu Golden Kings Japan | 83–78 | Chinese Taipei Taipei Fubon Braves |
| Scoring by quarter: 20–20, 25–25, 23–8, 15–25 | ||
| Pts: Cooley 24 Rebs: Cooley 13 Asts: Kishimoto 7 |
Pts: Johnson 28 Rebs: Johnson 9 Asts: Chou, Zaytsev 4 | |
Group B
[edit | edit source]<section begin=gb />
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Korea Seoul SK Knights | 2 | 2 | 0 | 172 | 153 | +19 | 4 | Final |
| 2 | Hong Kong Bay Area Dragons | 2 | 1 | 1 | 180 | 182 | −2 | 3[a] | Third place game |
| 3 | Japan Utsunomiya Brex | 2 | 1 | 1 | 189 | 162 | +27 | 3[a] | |
| 4 | Philippines TNT Tropang Giga | 2 | 0 | 2 | 135 | 179 | −44 | 2 |
Notes:
<section end=gb />
<section begin=gb1 />
1 March 2023
19:30 |
| Utsunomiya Brex Japan | 99–66 | Philippines TNT Tropang Giga |
| Scoring by quarter: 25–26, 32–8, 22–21, 20–11 | ||
| Pts: Scott 24 Rebs: Scott 14 Asts: Hiejima 6 |
Pts: Hudson 28 Rebs: Ochefu 9 Asts: Oftana 3 | |
Nikkan Arena Tochigi, Utsunomiya
|
<section end=gb1 />
2 March 2023
17:00 |
| Seoul SK Knights South Korea | 92–84 | Hong Kong Bay Area Dragons |
| Scoring by quarter: 18–20, 24–27, 22–20, 28–17 | ||
| Pts: Warney 30 Rebs: Warney 19 Asts: Kim, Warney 7 |
Pts: Nicholson 35 Rebs: Nicholson 15 Asts: Powell 8 | |
Nikkan Arena Tochigi, Utsunomiya
|
<section begin=gb2 />
3 March 2023
17:00 |
| TNT Tropang Giga Philippines | 69–80 | South Korea Seoul SK Knights |
| Scoring by quarter: 28–25, 14–16, 13–16, 14–23 | ||
| Pts: Oftana 16 Rebs: Ochefu 12 Asts: M. Williams 4 |
Pts: Kim, Warney 21 Rebs: Williams 21 Asts: Warney 11 | |
Nikkan Arena Tochigi, Utsunomiya
|
<section end=gb2 />
3 March 2023
19:30 |
| Utsunomiya Brex Japan | 90–96 | Hong Kong Bay Area Dragons |
| Scoring by quarter: 17–23, 32–24, 16–26, 25–23 | ||
| Pts: Jerrett 22 Rebs: Scott 12 Asts: Hiejima 7 |
Pts: Nicholson 26 Rebs: Nicholson 12 Asts: Powell 10 | |
Nikkan Arena Tochigi, Utsunomiya
|
Final round
[edit | edit source]Third place game
[edit | edit source]5 March 2023
16:00 |
| Ryukyu Golden Kings Japan | 70–90 | Hong Kong Bay Area Dragons |
| Scoring by quarter: 14–16, 14–28, 23–30, 19–16 | ||
| Pts: Durham 19 Rebs: Watanabe 8 Asts: Flippin 5 |
Pts: Powell 29 Rebs: Nicholson 8 Asts: Yang 5 | |
Final
[edit | edit source]5 March 2023
19:00 |
| Anyang KGC South Korea | 90–84 | South Korea Seoul SK Knights |
| Scoring by quarter: 25–27, 24–10, 17–24, 24–23 | ||
| Pts: Monroe 21 Rebs: Monroe 16 Asts: Byeon, Monroe 5 |
Pts: Kim 25 Rebs: Williams 10 Asts: Kim, Oh 6 | |
References
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