[Old Picture of the National team]
Whenever you hear the Lebanese Basketball officials appointing a Lebanese coach head of the National team, it teams they are running out of money. Ghassan Sarkis was assigned the task of head coach of the Lebanese Basketball National Team after the miserable results Tab Baldwin provided.
Some of you recall how I critisized that guy even before he was appointed and how terrible were our results because of his stupid tactics. [Link]
Back to Coach Sarkis, I never liked him and I think he only became famous because of Hekmeh’s achievements which were due to Elie Mechantaf (Estez el Riyadi) rather than his coaching skills. The positive side of the story is that we won’t have to pay him 100,000$ to screw us up like Baldwin did.
You ask me why I am always pessimistic about our national team, It’s mainly due of 3 issues:
– The players are never paid and treated like slaves. They have to show up or else be penalized, yet they are barely provided with transportation and training shoes. The federation and ministry of sports are to be blamed here.
– The coaches are never given time to prepare the team and never signed for 3 to 5 years. We expect miracle workers all the time. Most coaches we got were bad as well so it turned into a nightmare. The federation and ministry of sports are to be blamed here.
– Lebanese Coaches are paid ridiculous amounts compared to non-Lebanese ones, but at least they are paid something unlike the players. However, and here’s the worst part, our dear federation invests all its money every year to naturalize and pay for a Lebanese-American player and expects him to do wonders. As a result, other players not getting a penny feel insulted and disrespected and don’t give a damn about the team as a whole.
i think that coach ghassan proved that hes the most qualified person to coach our national team, but it seems that you hate michel aoun supporters diregarding their achievments,i think u should be more objective najib
nice cheap shot you directed at us Riyadi fans there Najib 😛
too bad, Lebanese basketball has been irrelevant for a while now, i can’t even reply to you 🙁
Steve,
I’d rather not answer your silly claims. Ghassan Sarkis sucks big time since the day he started coaching and the proof is how he was unable to deliver in the past few years even with Fadi el Khatib and few of the best Lebanese players.
Only when he had a good leader in the team, was he able to succeed, not to mention the limitless funding and support of Choueiri back then.
If you have something useful to say, I suggest you say it. Otherwise, keep your baseless comments to yourself.
A,
Glad u took it well lol. I used to love the bickering between the two teams before, until it got ugly few years back.
i agree with Najib..
shou dakhal shou dino l zalameh aw ma3 ayya 7ezeb?!
i dont like Fadi el Khatib, and i don’t like Badr Makki and Ghaleb Rida and many other players and coaches.. but it’s not becoz of their political affiliation or their religion, i just didn’t like them
Don’t get me started with Fadi el Khatib. First thing I would do as a national coach is kick him out.
Nagib , Fadi el khatib is the best SG in lebanon and in the history of leb , his only issue is that he is in love with dollars and will fuck his team to get more dollars elsewhere . Ghassan sarkis is the winningest coach in leb and did miracles with sagesse. I think you have a problem with him because he didnt pick your overweight friend big Roy 🙂
showtime,
Doesn’t matter if you are the best SG and can score 40 points when you can’t make your team win. BBall is about being a team and playing as part of the team, so Khatib sucks.
As far as Ghassan Sarkis is concerned, I hated him before I knew my very well in shape and can kick any other player’s ass friend Roy and for your information, Sarkis wants Roy more than any other player on the national team 🙂
So get your info right.
Sarkis is the best coach in leb and khatib is the best player! You think the team would play better without khatib?? there is no replacement for him for the time being! he is even better than the naturalized players!!
Maybe you should be hired to coach the national team 🙂
It has always been my dream to coach a football or bball team, and I am quite sure I could do results better than the previous coaches knowing that they did not set the bar too high.
However I lack training in coaching skills and wish to acquire them first 🙂
@najib,
I believe that the ability for a coach to lead successfully is just pure motivation..
look any guy can come up with a play, but the coach is the person who will motivate his players and at the same time make the tough calls.
Najib, i encourage you to apply to coach the bball team. i am sure u will do great results. I am gonna ask sarkis if he is willing to take u as his assistant coach. Would you accept to assist him??
A,
I have to disagree. Aside from motivation and charisma, you need to be able to understand other teams’ tactics, the game’s tactics and need some proper training. The training you are talking about houwwe 3al lebnen 🙂
H,
No I don’t want to assist Sarkis. If he works as my water boy and I am the head coach, I will take the job.
You know that Sarkis is a reader of this blog!! If he reads your comments, Roy will have to stay 40 min on the bench!!!!
If he takes into consideration someone’s opinion to pick on his players, then he is the coach I always thought he is, subjective and incompetent 🙂
And by the way, Roy & I disagree on Sarkis as he likes him and defends him even more than you do. You could check his radio interview not so long time ago.
I am honored that he reads the blog as well and urge him to prove me wrong in what I said on the national team and the federation.
Dakhlak his son is in the national team too? he’s a great talent .. it would be a huge loss if he is not in (wink wink).
Najib
his son doesnt deserve to be in any first division team , he sucks 🙂 i agree with you on that 🙂
where is roy going to play ? still with anibal ?
So you agree that he is only playing cause his dad is the coach? meaning that he is taking away the spot of a potentially competent player and new hope to play his own unskilled and show off son?
Very professional coach.
Why do u hate sarkis that much??? he is much more professional than many other coaches. Never heard any player who hates him!!! ur the 1st one who doesnt like him!!!
This discussion has near 0 value in terms of basketball, no one presented any rational argument about why such coach or such player are good or bad.
Seriously guys, present some more elaborate analysis for the rest of us who would like to know more about Lebanese basketball.
A great man to coach a great team. We hope coach Ghassan will lead the lebanese national team to qualify to the olympic games.
Will fadi El Khatib participate is the national team??
Hopefuly, but who is the new nationalised center of the national team
A great team without a great point guard. but who is the new center of the national team?
Hey guys just want to talk about the national team in the 2015 Asian championship. I making suggestions of a possible roster and coach for the team leading to the Asian championship. Some issues which I think need to be addressed is thr prescience of Ghassan Sarkis, and who is going to play the 5 spot
Firstly with ghassan Sarkis I believe was the primary reason for lebanons failure in the past 3 or 4 years. When choosing a squad he failed to recognise star players one of them including Ahmad Ibrahim who at the time was racking up tremendous numbers in the domestic league. Often his choices were very biased with almost half the team coming from his local side champville. Also prior to events he would dedicate a few weeks worth of training before major tournaments which inevitably resulted in poor results in the jones cup and Asian championships. Thank fully after the ban the federation has looked at other international coaches who have experienced competitive international ball games which I believe will provide Lebanon the competitive edge to compete.
Secondly with regards to the issue of the five spot, although it is good that the federation has chosen Julian Khazzouh let us not forget that this man is only standing at 6 “10 and will be playing against bigger opponents including Andray Blatche and Hamed Haddadi. WE NEED TO THINK BIGGER. I’m thinking of a >7 “0 centre , which is why I would recommend Hassan Whiteside. Hassan is now playing with the heat and is putting up tremendous points and defensive plays due to his larger wingspan. Why I recommend Whiteside is due to the fact that he previously played for both Amchit and Mouttahhed and had built great chemistry with the Lebanese players and coaching staff. Also the Lebanese system has also developed his game tremendously so in return I believe he wouldn’t deny a chance to play with a country that has offered him so much.
Finally here is my recommendation of lebanons 2015 squad . These players have been chosen based on their performances. Guys feel free to comment and if you want cut down or add players to this roster