MANAMA (Bahrain) - Linos Gavriel has heard enough.
Never afraid to speak his mind, the Manama head coach stood up for his team amid the criticisms thrown their way as the perennial contenders' struggles continue in the 2024/2025 FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) competitions.
"Everybody needs to understand that the team is new. It needs more time. It needs to close games it could easily win. But we cannot hang the players, or attack the players, coaches because we lost two games in November," he said.
"Nobody's winning titles in November," he added.
The champion bench tactician said as much on Thursday night, shortly after the inaugural league champions bowed to Moustafa Fouda and newcomers Al Arabi, 85-84, in their own home floor at the BBA Arena - a loss where they blew a 21-point lead.
It was their second loss in as many outings, an unfamiliar territory for the Bahraini powerhouse as they have never started that way in WASL. Last season, they won their first two games in the Gulf League, eventually sweeping Group B with a 6-0 record.
People need to respect this team.
One can't help but wonder why given their stature but Gavriel had already mentioned after their first game, a 90-84 defeat to Ittihad Club, that they are still in the process of building anew, given that they have several new pieces in the squad.
Much has been said about their trio of reinforcements in Clint Chapman, Tony Carr, and Carlton Bragg being among those. But the club's local talent has seen major changes as well, as the others opted to take their talents elsewhere.
The last two seasons saw some key cogs of the Manama team that won the WASL title in 2023 leave. Ahmed Alderazi, for one, went to Al Ahli that same year, before Ameer Hamooda and Ali Rashed both signed with Muharraq just this offseason.
But arguably the biggest departure was when star guard Mosti Rashed transferred to Al Arabi late last year to serve as their foreign player. Yes, they played against him on Thursday night, where he finished with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from deep.
Gavriel, though, made it clear that the organization has no problems whatsoever with players choosing to go for greener pastures, even saying that he's happy for them to have earned themselves such opportunities as they deserve it, too.
"It's nobody's fault people that leave to sign bigger contracts from the success of Manama - because we succeed and their value goes up, and I'm happy for them that they are in new teams," offered the Cypriot-Greek bench tactician.
But apparently, the detractors have been making up their own speculations and whatnot, the very reason why Gavriel - someone who can get really straightforward at times - deemed it best to address as much once and for all.
"Nobody took the decision to hurt the team like everybody [says] and thinks around the Gulf -- TV, social media, fans. Nobody kicked anybody out," he said. "The management has a certain budget. The players got bigger offers, so they left"
"The team got the players within the budget. And every team that has no league to play, to have 10 games, 16 games like Arabi, and play only two games, won't function. So, it's not about the players. It's not about the management, or the coaches."
"It's not about the faces. This is something I've been hearing non-stop all the time, 'cause we lost the first game. People need to respect this team," added Gavriel. "Or, support the team in the difficult moments, so we continue to win titles in the end."
It's unfair, too, to play any blaming game, he said.
"We cannot start blaming people, like what's happening at the end of the game. That's disrespectful to people that brought success - management, staff, players that are here," he said. "Everybody needs to relax and support this team."
These may be challenging times for Manama yet Gavriel keeps the faith, firm in his belief that the present batch will be able to figure things out soon like what they have proven many times in the past - and as long as he's around, too.
"Manama succeeded as the smallest team, or the smallest Arabic country with the least citizens, winning the WASL in 2023 and everybody else started to invest later on ... So, Manama will be back as long as I'm here," he vowed.
FIBA