Gilas faces short but bulky, rugged Lebanese squad

CHANGSHA – Former Kent State guard Jay Youngblood and 2010 World Cup veterans Jean Abdelnour and Rodrigue Akl banner the rugged Lebanese team challenging Gilas Pilipinas in a do-or-die match for a spot in the semifinals of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship here Thursday.

Guards Amir Saoud and Wael Arakji and forwards Mohamad Ali Saidar, Ahmad Ibrahim and Bassel Bawji are the other key players of the Lebanese team out for a triumphant return from a two-year suspension in the FIBA rolls.

Upon the lifting of their FIBA ban, the Lebanese swept their way to the West Asia Basketball Association championship and got into the FIBA Asia quarterfinals with crucial wins over Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and Jordan.

With a relatively young team with an average of 26, the Lebanese are determined to go as far as they can in the knockout round.

From their WABA run, the Lebanese have been banking largely on Youngblood, Haidar, Ibrahim and Saoud, all averaging in double figures here.

Youngblood, the team’s naturalized player, norms 19.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals in 33.7 minutes a game.

The 6-foot-4 guard, an All-Mid-American Conference First Team honoree in 2006, anchors Lebanon’s run-and-gun style of play.   

Among the Lebanon locals, Gilas coach Tab Baldwin points to Abelnour, Haidar and Saoud as players that can really hurt any opponent.

“Those guys can always shoot the ball so well,” said Baldwin.

They play small-ball or fast-paced basketball since their biggest guys are only couples of 6-foot-8s in Bawji, Haidar, Charles Tabet and Joseph Kheres.

Nonetheless, Lebanon coach Veselin Matic insists they can defend Filipino naturalized player Andray Blatche.

They clipped the Taiwanese, 92-87; cut down to size the tall Kazakhs, 91-55; and toppled the Jordanians.

In six games in the preliminaries, Lebanon averaged 84.3 points, 39.8 rebounds, 12.5 steals, 8.5 steals and 4.0 blocks against 13.7 errors compared to Gilas norms of 90.5 markers, 49.0 boards, 12.5 feeds, 9.5 steals and 3.3 blocks against 11.7 errors.

The Lebanese have better shooting percentages – 39.3 from the three-point land and 50.2 from the two-point zone. The Filipinos are hitting at 36.2-percent clip from the three-point area and 49.7 percent from the two-point zone.