Lebanese Basketball Championship - Men Division One - Regular Season 2005/06

Starters:      Lamine Diawara - Elie Mechantaf - Bassem Balaa - Fady Khatib - Kenny Satterfield
Substitutes:   Paul Khoury - Rodrigue Nacouzi - Joe Ghattas - Patrick Abou Abboud

Mouttahed club proved to be a hard nut to crack for Sagesse when the two teams got the ball rolling for the 2005-2006 basketball season. The Greens failed to live up to expectations and showed hardly any glimpses of their vast potential en route to an unimpressive victory over unfashionable Mouttahed club.

Kenny Satterfield, Elie Mechantaf, Fadi El-Khatib, Bassem Balaa and Lamine Diawara were the starters who got the nod ahead of their teammates for the season’s opener and applied a strict man-to-man defence on their opponents. Lamine Diawara debuted promisingly and was the author of two blockshots on Mouttahed’s Kevin Jobity thus contributing to his side’s 9-4 lead.

Coach Scott Fields then opted for a twin-tower combination as he brought Paul Khoury in to play besides Lamine, but the tactical conversion intended to dominate the paint failed to yield the desired return and Mouttahed closed the gap. Nonetheless, two back-to-back shots from the perimeter by Satterfield and one by Khatib generated a 5-point difference at the end of the first quarter (21-16).

Sagesse got the second quarter going with a tactical pattern devoid of a power-forward but bad shot selections and an erratic offensive rotation compelled coach Fields to call for a time-out. The reintroduction of Bassem Balaa and the substitution of unsettled Lamine Diawara by Paul Khoury slightly improved matters but the Greens were still hinging on individual efforts rather than a methodical system. This being said, the 36-33 scoreline at half-time came as no surprise given the game’s course.

Both teams hit a drought spell in the third quarter and baskets were few and far between. Fadi El-Khatib’s free-throws were Sagesse’s sole means to rack up points but their opponents never looked capable of turning the tide in spite of Diawara’s enforced extraction as a consequence of a foul trouble situation. Scott Fields’ lads struggled even in fast-breaks and allowed too many offensive rebounds but their defensive resolve and Mouttahed’s frailty helped Sagesse to create a 9-point cushion heading towards the last period (50-41).

Sagesse’s 9-0 run in early proceedings of the fourth quarter signaled their intent to finally take the bull by the horns. The Tripoli outfits immediately looked subdued by the Greens’ tenacity and were brought to their knees as the gap irrevocably ballooned to 23 points owing to Kenny Satterfield’s dazzling display. Then again, the comfortable lead triggered complacency allowing it to dwindle back to 12 points as the game ended 75-63.

At the end of the day, only victories count and the opening games always prove full of twists and turns to the big guns, therefore the Greens will definitely be keen to compete in their next fixture to gradually demonstrate their distinguished class.

-Game statistics chart courtesy of Al-Balad newspaper - Sports Section ©-Al-Balad-2005 - All Rights reserved: