Pride as a pro and future of Syria basketball with Michael Madanly

AMMAN (Jordan) - Due to Syria’s limited number of appearances in the FIBA Asia Cup, Michael Madanly might not immediately pop up as one of the greats in Asia. But make no mistake, Madanly deserves to be mentioned in that upper echelon as mentioned time and again by his peers like Sam Daghlas.

Syrian Scoring Machine

The star scorer from Syria made it clear that he was a special talent immediately in his first Asia Cup appearance back in 2001. At just 20 years old at the time, Madanly averaged 17.0 points per game which was good enough for 6^th among all players. He scored 30 in a narrow third-place game loss to Korea, officially sending out a warning to all opposing defenders in the Asia Cup for years to come.

Madanly continued to prove that there was not much that could stop him from scoring. His peak was in Asia Cup 2007 where he led the tournament with 33.1 points per game. During that stretch, he had two 40-point games and a string of four consecutive contests scoring over 33 points.

Ten years later at Asia Cup 2017, Madanly was still lighting up the scoreboard by averaging 20.5 points per game. The highlight was a 35-point outing against China.

Micho (as he is also fondly known as) is - and will always be - Micho.

There are few who can score at Madanly’s rate. The 1.92M (6’4”) guard averages 21.3 points per contest playing in four Asia Cups over 24 games. Whether he’s a 20-year-old rookie or a 36 year-old-veteran, he’ll find a way to score on anyone he goes up against. His All-Time Asia Cup Starting Five includes Sam Daghlas (JOR), Mohammad Abo Sada (SYR), Fadi El Khatib (LEB), Anwar Abdulhay (SYR), and Yao Ming (CHN). Playing with and against so many great players over a long period of time has only kept making him better and better.

“I was lucky to play with different generations and that helped me a lot in my career,” said Madanly in a talk with Jordanian Basketball كرة السلة الأردنية on Facebook.

Professional Playing Pride

Aside from his success with the national team, Madanly has also been triumphant in club play as well.

He lists winning FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2003 in Malaysia with Al Wahda, the first title ever for Syria in a major FIBA competition, as one of the most unforgettable moments in his career. He was also the star of his childhood club, Al-Jalaa, throughout their peak dominant years.

“Al-Jalaa club had a successful project for 8 years and we became one of the best clubs in the region and in Asia,” Madanly told Jordanian Basketball كرة السلة الأردنية. “We managed to reach the Asia Champions Cup Final two years in a row; 2006 against Jordan’s Fastlink and 2007 against Iran’s Saba Battery.”

Madanly had been with Al-Jalaa ever since he was 9-years-old. He initially attended the club looking to play football, but ended up playing basketball instead since it was the only sport the club had to offer.

In 2011, the situation went sideways for Madanly and for Syria.

A civil war tore apart the country which Madanly once referred to as “one of the best countries in all of the world” which his own brother was kidnapped and held for ransom. The situation forced Madanly and his family to flee from the country. His parents went to Amsterdam in the Netherlands; his brother went to California.

Madanly had to leave Al-Jalaa and found refuge playing in professional leagues across other countries like China, the Philippines, and the Netherlands.

Future for basketball in Syria

“Syrian basketball suffered a lot after 2005 and things were even worse in 2011,” Madanly said.

After finishing at 4^th in Asia Cup 2001, Syria have never reached the Quarter-Finals again. They’ve also missed out qualifying to four Asia Cups since 2000.

There have been plenty of obstacles but the Syrian Basketball Federation (SBF) have been putting in their best efforts to hurdle them in order to get a fresh start.

“The [SBF] must start working to rebuild basketball and have a new national team with a mixture between youth and experience,” said Madanly.

They are still searching for the right combination in the national team, but the recent results are promising. Syria made it through to the second round of the recent World Cup Qualifiers where Madanly played his part of averaging 13.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game.

Even more recently, they claimed an inspiring win on the road against Saudi Arabia in a game which shined light on players to watch like Abdulwahab Alhamwi and Rami Merjaneh.

However, there’s still plenty of room for improvement in the eyes of their seasoned star.

“Qualifying to FIBA Asia Cup 2021 will not be easy,” Madanly firmly claimed. “The players need to work harder.”

With another road game against Qatar before a three-game home stretch in the final two windows of the Qualifiers, fans will get to see how much work these Syria national team players put in.

FIBA