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Amman News Sports Basketball Basketball league starts today
Amman News Sports Basketball Basketball league starts today
| Basketball league starts today |
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| Wednesday, 02 March 2011 08:13 |
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Much has changed on the local basketball scene in the past few years. Jordan’s six-time former league champs Zain pulled out of the 2010 PBL and disbanded the team leaving the field wide open for ASU to take the title of the leading tourney in which only Riyadi, Orthodoxi and Wihdat competed. Zain’s decision came after no ‘’official body’’ was overseeing the game throughout 2009 through mid-2010 after the Jordan Basketball Federation was suspended by the Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC) in July 2009, citing ‘’ administrative and financial violations’’ just as the national team was getting off to their World Championship qualification journey. Local competitions were on hold for seven months before a temporary board was appointed and elections were held. In the mid of a turbulent period, the local map changed and this season will miss many players while others have transferred or quit the game altogether. In addition, young coaches, who were former stars of their teams, have taken the reigns as clubs suffer a financial crisis and have come to rely on local talent rather than foreign players and coaches. In addition, five national team stars will miss the league - Zeid Abbas, Ayman Dueis, Zeid Alkhas, Osama Douglass and Rasheim Wright - all playing abroad. Former star Mu’tasem Salameh is the head coach at Riyadi, while Jan Sahlieh, whose line-up has undergone a complete makeover, is at Orthodoxi. Faisal Nsour is at Arena while veteran Imad Saeed is at Kulieh. ASU recently won the 8th Jordan Basketball Cup after beating Riyadi. Orthodoxi were third and Arena came fourth as seven teams competed in the event. The tournament was a good warm-up for teams ahead of the league. ‘’We know we have a young team that will grow with experience. We lack sufficient matches but our team did well in the Jordan Cup,’’ Orthodoxi President Nabil Abu Khader told The Jordan Times. Abu Khader stressed that a pertinent investment in the game was not through signing professional players but by building on local talent within clubs. ‘’We aim to play the game, by making young players love the game, not just win titles.’’ The top three teams have had a small number of matches with Orthodoxi heading to the West Bank for friendlies while Riyadi competed in Group A qualifiers for the 14th West Asian Clubs Championship in which ASU played in Group B. Both Riyadi and ASU did not advance to the next round. However, since rules stipulate that the top four teams that qualify to the Asian Basketball Confederation’s Champions Cup from West Asia must represent different countries, Riyadi and ASU will play a deciding match for Jordan’s berth. Before Zain joined the scene, Orthodoxi were the record-breaking team and had a five-year consecutive reign over main competitors Ahli in the Premier League (formerly First Division) before being upstaged in 1997 by Jazira (now Riyadi’s line-up). Established in 2007, ASU were crowned First Division champ in 2007 and were promoted to Premier Basketball League in the 2008/09 season finishing runner-up. They finished fourth at the 21st Champions Cup and were third at the 22nd Arab Clubs Basketball Championship in 2009 when Zain conceded their Arab title. After 2003, Zain became Jordan’s undisputed basketball powerhouse. The withdrawal of Zain, a dominant squad which won the league six consecutive years, as well as, being the only Jordanian team to be crowned champions of the Asian Basketball Confederation’s 17th Champions Cup in 2006, and the 21st Arab Clubs Basketball Championship in 2008, emptied the local scene. Basketball Premier League record: Orthodoxi (22 times): 1959, 73, 76-79, 82-89, 91, 95, 96, 98-2002 Ahli (19 times): 1957, 58, 60-63, 65, 67-72, 74, 75, 90, 92-94 Zain -Fastlink (6 times): 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Jazira (twice): 1964, 1997 ASU (once): 2009 Urdun (once): 1966 * The league was not held in 1980 and 1981
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The Premier Basketball League (PBL) tips off today with eight teams competing - reigning champs Applied Science University (ASU), Riyadi, Orthodoxi, Wihdat, Arena, Kulieh, Jalil and Kufr Youba.