BEIRUT (Lebanon) - Expect each and everyone from Sagesse to take the 2024/2025 FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) personally after the double heartbreak they suffered last season.
History
For starters, the Green Castle is the second winningest team in Lebanese Basketball Championship history with eight titles, seven of which they won in successive fashion from 1998 to 2004.
But it's not just in the domestic scene where they've achieved tremendous success. The team has also conquered the FIBA Asia Champions Cup (now known as the Basketball Champions League Asia) thrice, including a back-to-back feat 1999 and 2000 - yes, while in the midst of their dominance locally.
More than 20 championships, won at home and in international meets, are in the collection of Sagesse, an 82-year-old club which founded its basketball program in 1992 and in no time became a driving force in elevating the hoops scene in a country, as envisioned by its backer and former president Antoine Choueiri.
Sagesse actually had a chance to add more to their title count back in the 2023/2024 season but got foiled by Al Riyadi, and that's where the hunger to bounce back in the 2024/2025 competitions comes from.
For the uninitiated, both squads have been the fiercest of rivals for a long time now, but Sagesse found themselves on the losing end of Coach Ahmad Farran & Co. not once but multiple times just last season.
And definitely the toughest to fathom about those results was the fact that they lost in the Finals twice - first in the Lebanese league by way of a gentleman's sweep, and then in the WASL Final 8 in Qatar.
That's why Sagesse will be coming into the new WASL-West Asia League season a vengeful bunch and that alone should be enough to make the rest of the competition to be wary of the strong contenders.
They're entering the tilt with new and seasoned faces in tow, including a WASL familiar in Shabazz Muhammad who previously played for Beirut Club back in the league's first season. He will be sharing reinforcement duties with Zach Lofton, who played a key role in helping Riyadi win the BCL Asia inaugurals.
Not to be forgotten, of course, are the usual providers like Ahmad Ibrahim and Gerard Hadidian, to name some, as the team will be going with essentially the same squad from their first WASL stint.
Emblem
Just last November, Sagesse unveiled a new logo, doing away with the S-like sign clad in a green and black combo. The redesigned emblem symbolizes their modernization efforts while maintaining its historic identity.
FIBA