MANILA (Enzo Flojo's Asia on my Mind) - Ever since finishing among the top four teams at the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship in Tokushima, Japan, Kazakhstan have had an up-and-down ride in the Asian hoops scene.

That, however, is something the Snow Leopards plan to change this year when they are projected to send a stacked roster to the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha, China and target a significant resurgence.

The Kazakhs finished among the top four in Asia eight years ago, ringing up four wins in eight matches, including impressive results against Japan and Korea.

Anton Ponomarev, who was still just 19 years old at that time, was the squad's undisputed leader, averaging 17.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, and hitting two three-pointers per game, not to mention shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 39 percent from beyond the arc. He was a rising star in the continental basketball landscape, and that competition looked to be his coming out party.

He had the help of veterans Yevgeniy Issakov, Rustam Yargaliev, and Mikhail Yevstigneyev in that tournament, with their top four finish the highest ever in the history of the FIBA Asia Championship.

Inexplicably, though, things went south after that landmark campaign as the Kazakhs relied on a much younger squad at the 2009 FIBA Asia Championship in Tianjin, China, where they finished outside of the top eight after losing four of their eight games, including a horrendous 105-56 thrashing at the hands of Lebanon.

Once again, Ponomarev was among the team's stalwarts, together with Yargaliev and another young gun, Alexandr Tyutyunik. Strangely enough, they didn't participate in the qualifying phase for the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan, China. Instead, it was regional rivals Uzbekistan that earned their subzone's lone berth. Needless to say, the Uzbeks didn't fare so well.

Two years ago, at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship in Manila, Philippines, Kazakhstan returned to the scene and made a splash, sweeping their first three games en route to qualifying for the Quarter-Finals. They, however, had the misfortune of facing the home team Philippines, which was buoyed by naturalized center Marcus Douthit, the hot shooting of Gary David, and the raucous Filipino crowd. The Philippines handed then head coach Matteo Boniciolli and his wards a spanking, 88-58, and eliminated them from contention for the top honors. Kazakhstan went on to lose two more games and ended up in eighth place.

Fast-forward to earlier this year and the Kazakhs seemed hell-bent on reestablishing their place among the top tier teams of Asia. They blew out Kyrgyzstan, 84-39, in the lone qualifying match from Central Asia and have secured the services of veterans like Ponomarev, Yargaliev, Dimo Klimov, and Dmitriy Gavrilov for the 2015 FIBA Asia joust. In addition to that, naturalized point guard Jerry Johnson also looks fit and in sharp form, while two upcoming players - Anatoliy Bose Kolesnikov and Pavel Ilin - are expected to have breakout performances.

One clear gauge of how well Kazakhstan can play this year is their performance at the 2014 Asian Games, where the team surprised a lot of observers by rising all the way from the qualifying round to finishing among the top four teams again. On the way to that impressive finish, the Kazakhs upended Palestine, Chinese Taipei, and Qatar, while also being highly competitive and nearly upsetting the likes of eventual champion Korea, the Philippines, Iran, and Japan.

Former national team player Vitaly Strebkov held the coaching reins in that competition, and he appeared to know just how to maximize the skills of his players. In turn, Ponomarev and Co. responded with aplomb and served notice to the entire continent that they can no longer be overlooked.

Naturally, Johnson's performance this year will be crucial. He will share playmaking chores with young floor general Rustam Murzagaliev and is expected to be a dominant force in the backcourt.

Johnson averaged 12.2 points, 5.0 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game two years ago in Manila while also hitting 40 percent of his field goals. And that was with an injured shoulder, too! Now that he is reportedly 100 percent, look for the Pennsylvania-born point guard to be even more dangerous.

Pairing up with him at the other guard spot is 22-year-old three-point specialist Ilin. He wasn't in Manila two years ago, but he was a revelation in the Asian Games last year, putting up 11.0 points and close to two treys per outing. Another guy on whom to keep tabs is half-Australian Kolesnikov, a 2.00m hybrid wingman who can pretty much do it all. At the Asian Games, Kolesnikov led Kazakhstan in scoring with nearly 14 points per game and turned a lot heads with his energy and versatility.

If Johnson, Ilin, Kolesnikov, and Ponomarev can all stay healthy and play at a high level, Kazakhstan should make a splash in Changsha, provided they can overcome fellow contenders Chinese Taipei, Lebanon, and Qatar in what has been dubbed as the tournament’s Group of Death!

Enzo Flojo

FIBA

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