Lebanon: Beware of the cedar trees
Lebanon's National Team captured a third silver medal at the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship to earn a place at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens. Dragan Raca's team will try to surprise either Greece or Brazil, as they did against France two years ago in Japan, to keep their Olympic hopes alive.
The Lebanon National Team has played at the last two FIBA World Championships but has never participated in an Olympic Games. The country of cedar trees, in fact, had to wait until the 21st century to see the emergence of its National Team. At their first FIBA Asian Championship in 1999 in Fukuoka, Japan, Lebanon claimed seventh place. Two years later, though, and Lebanon were a force. They reached the final of the 2001 Asian Championship and while they lost to China 97-63 in the title game, the silver medal was good enough to qualify the Lebanese for their first major intercontinental competition, the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis.
Suffering from their lack of international experience, they lost all five of their games and finished last in 2002. Scoring machine Fadi El Khatib, American-born center Joe Vogel and then 21-year-old point guard Rony Fahed gained a lot of experience at the tournament. In 2003, missing their national hero El Khatib, the Lebanese lost their last two games at the 2003 FIBA Asian Championship to finish fourth and miss out on the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. After capturing another silver medal at the 2005 FIBA Asia Championship, they participated in the 2006 FIBA World Championship and showed they had made some progress. That was obvious on August 23 when Lebanon defeated France 74-73. El Khatib was unstoppable, scoring 29 points, with Rony Fahed adding 13 points, five rebounds and four assists and Brian Beshara-Feghali weighing in with 11 points and eight rebounds. Four days earlier, Lebanon had won against Venezuela but the two triumphs were not enough to qualify for the next phase.
Last summer, the Lebanese thought their day had come when they reached the final of the FIBA Asia Championship against Iran. But despite 23 points from Rony Fahed and 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists from El Khatib, they lost 74-69 to finish with silver for the third time. Iran qualified for the Beijing Games while Lebanon settled for a place in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens where three spots for China are up for grabs.
After the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan, Paul Coughter was replaced at the head of the Lebanon National Team by Dragan Raca. The Serbian-Cypriot coach hasn't changed many players since he took the reins. El Khatib remains the undisputed leader of Lebanon and probably one of the best players in Asia. Vogel is a solid center and Brian Beshara-Feghali has an important role as he can play in the paint and also shoot from three-point range. At 27, Fahed has developed into one of the best point guards in Asia. Raca will also try to bring in some fresh blood with shooting guard Mazen Mneimneh and small-forward Jihad El Murr set to play in Greece.
The Lebanese know the task is immense. It will be hard enough to win one their two group games just to qualify for the quarter-finals. Capturing one of the three remaining spots for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing would be an incredible achievement for Lebanese basketball. But even if they fail to qualify, playing in Greece against very good international teams will be a great opportunity to progress and gain more experience.
How did they qualify?
2007 FIBA Asia Championship, Final Round
2nd place (6 W - 2 L)
Results
Preliminary Round
Jul-28th 2007
Lebanon b. Kuwait 104-59
Jul-29th 2007
Japan b. Lebanon 77-67
Jul-30th 2007
Lebanon b. United Arab Emirates 106-64
Quarter-Final Round
Jul-31st 2007
Lebanon b. Qatar 90-68
Aug-1st 2007
Lebanon b. Chinese Taipei 95-64
Aug-2nd 2007 Lebanon b. Iran 82-60
Semifinal
Aug-4th 2007
Lebanon b. South Korea 76-74
Final
Aug-5th 2007
Iran b. Lebanon 74-69
