In the context of WABA (West Asian Basketball Association) and for
elimination rounds, 4 teams have participated this year: Sagesse
(Hekmeh) from Lebanon, Al Karakh from Iraq, Zob Ahan from Iran and
Orthodoxy from Jordan. Sagesse winning all three of its games will
now be in Malaysia as one of the Final 10 Asian teams. The Green
fans even had a song for the occasion: Raayheen 3a Maliisya bi Ayyar
(We Are Going To Malaysia in May).

But the Lebanese crowds enjoying their home wins also tremendously
enjoyed these guest teams as well. First Al Karakh proved to be a
huge improvement and gave a lot of hard time particularly to the
Iranians beating them at the end. An achievement of great
proportions. It came very close to a turnaround against
Jordan too. Actually in their win against Iran, our Lebanese fans
had an important role to play. You should have seen the elated noisy
support our crowds gave throughout the game to Karakh without them
knowing the name of a single Iraqi player I am almost sure. And the
Karakh players gracefully thanked the Lebanese crowds with a lovely
courteous return.

Lebanese crowds as much as we hate to admit have become fond of the
other two teams too for their frequent visits here: Zob Ahan and
Orthodoxy (sometimes playing under the name Aramex) such that Zob
Ahan and Orthodoxy have become household names in Beirut and we know
their team roster, their style of play, their strengths and
weaknesses as if by heart.

For example keen Lebanese followers could be able to tell you names
like Babak Nazafat or Ali Khoshrafi or Toraj Emdadi (unforgettable
two years ago against Sagesse) or the classy superb former captain
Said Khanei without much effort.

The Lebanese connections of Jordan's Orthodoxy go even deeper:
-Their present coach is Robert Taylor , greatly loved and respected
in Lebanon through his coaching of Tadamon in its better days and
Sadaka which coach Tailor turned into Final Four calibre.
-Their earlier coach is caoch Barakat now with Anibal Zahle
-One of their two foreign players is Eric Dunn, a fine and greatly
respected player in Lebanon for many years.
-The Jordanian players enjoy great popularity here. This is very
much deserved. From the present team, we can mention for sure and
without a doubt Ayman Doueis, Ashraf Samara, Mohammad Nasser, Fady
Saqqa. On other occasions and via other teams or the national team,
players like Maen Odeh, Alaa' Belbassi, Youssef Bou Bakr and most
notably Zeid el Khass enjoy great popularity too. El Khass has also
played this last season in Lebanon performing superbly although the
team overall couldn't achieve much. All the names I mentioned remain
great friends of our renowned Lebanese players.

They conduct themselves almost always impeccably and courteously on
and off court which is not what I could easily say of many of our
other Arab neighbours like the Egyptian, Syrian, Saudi or Algerian
basketball teams from whom we have seen a lot of aggressivity at
least on court. And thus Jordanian teams have gained great respect
with our fans. I can almost say the Jordanians feel as Lebanese when
they are on our soil.

Thus the basketball cooperation agreement signed between Lebanon and
Jordan which will benefit both nations. Which makes it very
surprising that no mention is being made about including Jordanian
teams in a Final 4 or Final Six setting now tipped between Top 2
Syrian and Top 2 Lebanese teams. For balance and some quality play,
and a great deal of class, professional behavior, decency, fair play
and enjoyment, I would also suggest including Top 2 Jordanian teams
also for a Final Six tournament to be held on a Home and Away basis
in Beirut, Damascus and Amman simultaneously.