JOR – Last chance for Jordan?

WUHAN (FIBA Asia Championship) – As he has all through his career, Jordan coach Tab Baldwin is approaching his team’s match-up with the powerful Chinese the only way he knows how.

“I am not going to sit there and say we are going to lose because they are China and they haven’t lost a game etc etc,” he said.

“We are going to fight and we are going to try and figure out a way to win, and if we do win I don’t think we’ll be surprised.”

After playing at last year’s FIBA World Championship in Turkey, falling one point short of beating Australia and narrowly going down to Angola, Jordan headed to the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan as one of the medal favourites.

While some players were missing from last year’s team, star trio Rasheim Wright, Sam Daghles and Zaid Abbas returned with a young but talented supporting cast.

With Jordan teetering in fourth place in their group however, things have not gone to plan.

“It’s an unfortunate two-game trend that we get off to a good start and then seem to lose our way. And I do think it’s mental,” Baldwin said after his team gave up an 18-point second quarter lead to fall to the Philippines, following a similar fade out against Japan.

“Our team really does seem to struggle in the tough moments, particularly late in games and particularly when we have had a lead,” he added.

“It’s very frustrating for them because they know inside that they have the capacity to do it.

"They feel like they are letting each other down, and I feel like I am letting them down by not being able to find the right buttons to push.”

Philippines coach Rajko Toroman thinks Jordan are not far away from turning the corner.

“Jordan played very well (in the first half), switching the defences. On our offence we didn’t know what to do because they knew every one of our moves,” he said.

This isn’t news to star point guard Daghles, but he is baffled as to why his team can’t produce for 40 minutes.

“We are still trying to find our identity for some reason,” he admitted. “At some points of the game we show our great side and then we go away from it, so it is very strange to me.”

Things don’t get any easier with host nation China next up on Tuesday, a must-win game if Jordan are to move up to third place and avoid Iran in the Quarter-Finals.

With their eyes still on getting on the podium and keeping the Olympic dream alive, Jordan is approaching the game with a positive outlook.

“They’ve found some form in this tournament after a really tough summer for them,” Baldwin said of the Chinese. “But I think there are some tactical issues with China that can be exploited.

"It’s going to be a tough game, we know that, but my career as a coach in international basketball has been about never conceding a game before it’s played.”

For Daghles, who plays his club basketball for Jilin in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), this is a game he is very much looking forward to against players he knows very well.

“I do. Me and ZouZou (Zaid Abbas) know them especially well,” he said.

“Tomorrow’s going to be an exciting game with over 10,000 people at the game,” he added. “You’re always excited to play a team like China.

"Beating them will only build confidence for our team, and that’s what we need right now, some confidence - somehow, some way.”

Paulo Kennedy

FIBA