Sakakini takes Palestine basketball to new heights

RAMALLAH (2015 FIBA Asia Championship) - Palestine will not be a one-man team when they show up at the FIBA Asia Championship in China later this year.

But it is accurate to say that Palestine would not be traveling to the event in Changsha-Hunan (23 September-3 October) were it not for one man.

That man is Sani Sakakini.

If ever a player had provided inspiration and leadership both on and off the court to lift a national team to new heights, it has been Sakakini.

A 26-year-old center, his statistics at the recent WABA Championship, where Palestine finished third and clinched a spot in the FIBA Asia Championship for the first time in their history, were jaw-dropping.

He was Superman.

In the 70-62 win over the Iraqis on the last day that clinched third place for Palestine, Sakakini had 35 points and 21 rebounds.

In the Palestinians' other victory over Syria on Day 2, Sakakini poured in 39 points and corralled 17 rebounds.

He had huge numbers against WABA winners Lebanon and second-place Jordan, too.

"It was a great, great feeling to help my country do this, especially something the national team isn't used to," Sakakini said to FIBA.com.

"The national team for years used to just go and play games and lose by 40 points but now, it’s different."

We have a good national team that knows how to play and knows how to win. - Sakakini

Had Sakakini not left Palestine when he was 18 years old to launch his professional career in Jordan, the country probably would not be headed to the Asian Championship later this year.

He developed his skills, served as an ambassador and also discovered what it was going to take for his own country to have a good national team.

His first contract was with Al Riyadh Amman in Jordan's Premier League.

He stayed there for four years before moving to China for a couple of seasons, then back to Jordan and back to China again.

Sakakini, in fact, was the leading rebounder in the CBA one season when he played for Qingdao.

This past season, after leaving the Lebanese league and returning to Jordan, he led Orthodox to the title in the Premier League.

"My professional experience of playing has helped my (Palestine) teammates and my federation to know that there is a difference of playing professional and semi-professional," he said.

Sakakini always returned home to open arms and there people there were willing to listen to his counsel.

He wanted Palestine to experience international basketball.

In Palestine, he said, basketball has always been seen as more of a hobby than a genuine professional sport.

One change that has made a significant difference for Palestine has been the appointment of American Jerry Steele as national team coach.

"Jerry Steele, he’s helping us learn a high level basketball," Sakakini said.

"He's our first foreign coach so the players they have been learning new things about basketball.

"When local coaches teach, it’s different to something from a high level.

"That’s what makes the difference. Every time you work hard, you get something back."

Palestine's confidence has grown from the WABA showing.

And so has their celebrity.

Since returning home, Sakakini has done live television interviews and gone with his basketball federation to meet with the country's Olympic Committee.

He is supposed meet with Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas in the coming days.

He and his teammates are heroes.

The competition will be stiff at the Asia Championship, but Sakakini says he and his squad will be ready.

Palestine should be a better team than at WABA as well.

Sakakini's brother, Saleem, did not play because he just got married and another player, Nick Sabayel, was also a newlywed and on his honeymoon.

A third player who will make the team stronger, Omar Krayem, plays in the Philippines and could not join Palestine in Amman.

All three should be available when the FIBA Asia Championship is staged.

Sakakini is looking forward to the next challenge.

Plans are being finalized this weekend for Palestine's preparations.

They have built some momentum and want to keep it going.

At the big Asia Championship, where the winner qualifies for the Rio de Janeiro Games, Sakakini will go up against players like China's Yi Jianlian, Iran's Hamed Haddadi and the Philippines' Andray Blatche.

"I played against them in China and it was pretty nice playing against big names," he said.

"I had almost the same, maybe better numbers."

FIBA