Lebanon and the Basketball World Cup: Arakji, his first star, and Spellman, a point of anticipation
During the last period of the Cedars’ preparations for the 2023 Basketball World Cup, which will start on August 25, and its activities will take place in Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan, the Lebanese coach Jad Al-Hajj tried to reach the best possible “form” for the players, despite the pressures and problems that the team suffered from during the days. past at all levels.
The Lebanese national team is playing in the eighth group, which will be very iron and difficult, in the presence of the teams of France, Canada and Latvia, which have distinguished players, some of whom are active in the American Basketball League, and others in Europe in the Euroleague.
The coach of the Lebanese national team realizes that facing teams such as France, Canada and Latvia will be of a high standard and difficult for the players, and requires a great focus mentally and great work on the physical side, and this is what happened in the last period, although the results at some times and the performance have disappointed the followers of the national team. The basket, especially the new naturalized Omri Spellman, who appeared in poor physical condition and overweight, which angered the fans.
But work is currently being done daily on losing a few kilograms, so that he is fit for the task for which he was naturalized, especially since the load will be heavy for him to face French players, for example, Crudy Goubert, the star of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Nicolas Batum from the Los Angeles Clippers, and Frank Nitelikina from the Dallas Mavericks.
Spellman and the goal of success
The Lebanese fans hoped that Omari Spellman, the former American Golden State Warriors player, who played alongside and against the big stars in the “NBA”, and then starred in the South Korean League, would present a distinguished level, but he shocked everyone when he arrived at Beirut airport before A very overweight period, and from there the story of anger about his lack of commitment began, as if the national team’s participation in the World Cup was just a picnic for him.
Spellman participated for a short time with the national team in the first exercises in Lebanon, and left with the mission to the Turkish camp, which included some friendly matches that were not transferred or shown since it was preparatory, and to reach the appropriate combination and the best results, and everyone waited to see him with the return of the national team to its land to play a friendly against Ivory Coast in Nihad Nofal Complex, and lost at the time amidst a poor performance by Spellman.
After that, the Lebanese national team left for Abu Dhabi and faced the Egyptian national team in the beginning and outperformed it, and the naturalized player had a role in that after he scored 17 points, while Wael Araji, the star of the first team, scored 18 points, after which he missed the match with Mexico, which witnessed the fall of the Cedar team (88-70). , before losing also to the University of Arizona with a score of 71-85, but the player appeared well and scored 21 points.
The technical staff is currently working to help Spielman get rid of the extra weight, especially since his defensive rebound is somewhat slow, which creates gaps in the plans of coach Jad Al-Hajj. How will the situation in the World Cup?
Arakji and the rest
The Lebanese national team is missing some of the elements that contributed to achieving second place in the Asian Cup after losing to Australia, including the young Youssef Khayat, who was injured, as well as Elie Chamoun, at a time when everyone was waiting for what would happen with Amir Saud, the star of Al-Riyadi Club, who is able to score hat-tricks. From outside the arc, which may be a solution at any time for coach Jad Al-Hajj in case it is difficult to penetrate against other teams that have giants under the basket, but his condition may not be suitable after an injury he suffered in the Turkish camp, although he is currently with the national team.
The Lebanese fans are counting on the appearance of Ali Haidar and Karim Ezz El-Din at a good level under the basket, especially since they are two players with a long stature, and Araji, the best player in the recent Asian Cup, is considered the biggest hope and the first star, and he has great skills and is able to find solutions, score and penetrate. In front of the best players, especially since he is the focus of everyone’s attention in this difficult task, but he will receive strong control, in order to paralyze his movement and influence as much as possible on his offensive ability, knowing that the national team has other names capable of providing an addition during the matches, and there are examples such as Haik Kyogjian and Ali Mansour And Ali Mezher and Sergio Darwish, as well as Karim Zeinoun.
2023-08-22 13:29:49
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