JOHOR BAHRU (FIBA Asia U16 Championship) - As the curtain goes up on the first of the two final events of the FIBA Asia annual calendar, the answer to the most popular question that will do the rounds among the discerning of the sport in Asia lies somewhere in the long-term thinking of the participants rather than the short-term myopic goals.

True the two finalists of the inaugural FIBA Asia U16 Championship starting on Thursday at this South-Eastern most tip of Malaysia - as those two who will contest the title round in the FIBA Asia U16 Championship for Women that follows in the historic Indian town of Pune just about ten days later - will earn the right to represent FIBA Asia in their respective 2010 FIBA World U17 Championships.

But then, the FIBA 2010 World U17 Championships themselves are an exercise aimed at collating all similar events at the continental levels towards spotting the future beacons for the game!

Therefore, experts with the experience of having watched the sport through its triumphs and travails and the expertise to visualize a long-term goal would concentrate more on the attitude, approach and application these youngsters bring in to the game rather than the mere and mundane statistics of the results.

Of course, Who wins here matters, but what matters more - and most for the future of basketball in Asia - is How they achieve that victory!

Seasoned Serbian Veselin Matic known for his guileful marshalling of resources as the helmsman - the defeat Iran handed China in the final of the 25th FIBA Asia Championship in Tianjin in August is the latest example for the veteran coach's capabilities - put things in perspective.

"It all depends on how well these youngsters cope with the pressure of playing on the international stage," Matic, in Johor Bahru as a part of the Iranian contingent, said on the eve of the Championship.

"To me the most important factor will be to see how well these youngsters organize their defense. That will be a true test of their character and their long-term potential," added Matic, who steered the erstwhile Yugoslavian National Team to the gold medal in the 1997 European U16 Championship - an event that featured names like Tony Parker of France and Andrei Kirlinenko of Russia for the first time on the international stage.

"Under 16 is the crucial point for serious work especially if you want success in the long term," says Dragan Raca, the coach who led Lebanon to a semifinal finish at Tianjin.

"This age is very characteristic and important, because through a good training these young players can achieve more in technical and tactical segments of the game," Raca told this correspondent in an email recently.

The fascinating rise of the West Asian teams challenging the traditional strongholds of the East will get a fresh lease of rivalry - albeit in a entirely new venue and in an entirely new age-group competition.

But then as another long-term observer of the FIBA Asia events put it, "in this age-group the difference between the traditional powers and emerging teams will be very narrow and rather insignificant."

How true that statement turns out will hold the key to answering the first question we raised!

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia