22 October 2011

BEIRUT: For the second successive year, the Lebanese Super Cup will take place between Riyadi Beirut and Champville, last season’s league winners and runners up respectively.

The showdown is designed to act as a curtain raiser and indicator of the season to come, but last season Champville beat Riyadi before falling to them in the league season.

Riyadi, winners of seven consecutive Lebanese league championships, have made some changes and new signings during the off season in an attempt to strengthen their squad and snatch an eighth title.

The biggest move made by the team’s administrators and management was the exclusion of Nate Johnson and Loren Woods from the team’s roster. The two Americans, especially Johnson, were considered as key factors in Riyadi’s success last year, and many were surprised with the decision.

The team kept Egyptian veteran Ismail Ahmad, one of the best imports to ever play in Lebanon, and signed guard Dewarick Spencer, who is playing for the first time in Lebanon. The latter has already put in some great performances during the preseason and is leading his teammates in the Hariri Cup, proving to be a leader and knock down 3-point shooter.

As for Lebanese players, the team kept its old faces, with only a few minor changes. Ali Mahmoud, Jean Abdel Nour and Joe Vogel are still in the lineup, while former players Hussein Tawbe and Hassan Lakkis rejoined the squad, in addition to Ali Kanaan and William Phares. On the exit list, Ali Fakhreddine decided to find a new challenge and bigger role at Hoops, while Wassim Abou Zolof joined rivals Champville.

So far, the team has proven to enjoy good chemistry and solid rotation between the starters and the bench, and it is obvious they will go into the Super Cup game as favorites, taking into consideration their participation in the Hariri Cup.

National team player, Abdel Nour, is confident ahead of the new season. “We expect it to be a good and tough game; we will be fully ready for this game this year hopefully,” he said.

“The preparations are good, especially after the Hariri Cup which helped us gain some chemistry with our new foreigner Dewarick Spencer.

“I expect Champville’s performance to be good, considering that they have two new foreigners and some new players, so basically it is almost a new team. They are going to be trying different lineups. It will be a great game for the fans.”

On the other side, the league’s runners up for the second consecutive time are looking to repeat what they did last year in this same game, when they beat their opponents at the same court. Champville’s signings and trades were much more numerous than Riyadi’s during the off season. Concerning the foreigners, the team lost both Jay Youngblood and Larry Cox, and put pen to paper with ex-Sagesse player Garnett Thompson and national team naturalized player Sam Hoskin.

Thompson featured for Ghassan Sarkis’ side during the Pan-Arab tournament, and showed a decent level of play, which forced Sarkis to think of keeping him for the new season, while Hoskin was one of the key players for the national team during the Asian Championship.

It is the first time Champville will try this combination of foreigners on positions four and five, and the first test for whether this strategy can be effective will occur this Sunday.

As for Lebanese players, Mazen Mneimneh, Patrick Bou Abboud, Yehya Sabra and Miguel Martinez have all left the team, for different reasons. Instead, national team players Mohammad Ibrahim and Elie Stephan joined the squad, in addition to 18-year-old power forward Paul Iskandar. It is true that the team lost some of its role players like Mneimneh and Martinez, but Sarkis is relying on the new additions to make the difference and help the team grab their much awaited first League Championship.

“Preparations are going well. We just needed to participate in a preparation tournament instead of some friendly games, but we will do our best,” Sarkis said about the game.

“Both teams will have the chance to win the game. I think it’s a 50 percent opportunity for each team. We will focus mainly on our defensive game and the team’s performance on offense,” he added.

Copyright The Daily Star 2011.