Pierre Jackson's sudden exit leaves gaping hole in Sagesse backcourt

TEHRAN (Iran) - The supposed answer left Sagesse a problem.

Head coach Jad El Hajj lamented how the sudden departure of Pierre Jackson has massively affected the whole team following the end of their two-game winning streak at the hands of Shahrdary Gorgan in the FIBA WASL-West Asia League on Thursday night.

"Everyone knows now that we're suffering from not having a point guard. Pierre Jackson left last week," the veteran mentor said during the postgame press conference of their 81-68 defeat to the still-perfect opposition at the Azadi Basketball Hall in the Iranian capital.

The veteran journeyman has left for China, according to El Hajj himself, making it a short stay for him in Lebanon. He signed with the ball club just last November, shortly after wrapping up his tour of duty with the Wuhan Dangdai in the Chinese National Basketball League.

His arrival then brought renewed optimism to Sagesse, especially after a FIBA WASL debut to remember last November 30 when he poured in 39 points on 65-percent field goal shooting to power his side to their first win of the season, a 90-78 road victory over Al Naft.

Jackson would then deliver their second W right in their next game to string together a mini win streak. He was strongly believed to be the answer that the club has been looking for to address their point guard situation, given his ability in running the one.

But apparently, an opportunity away from Ghazir knocked on his door and took it. While the team understands his decision, El Hajj and Co. couldn't conceal how difficult it has been for the whole squad to be without someone whom they've gotten so used to for about two months.

Their game against Gorgan alone was a prime example on how they missed the quarterbacking of Jackson, who left FIBA WASL with averages of 31.5 points on 50-percent shooting from the outside, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.5 steals in 29.9 minutes.

"We made 21 turnovers and only nine assists in 40 minutes, which is hard to win games," said El Hajj after glancing on the stat sheet. "We tried to control some defensive stops. In the end we won one quarter, which was the last one (22-21). Of course, it's not enough to win a road game."

They did try to apply a band-aid solution by assigning Marc Khoueiry at the point. The 22-year-old guard did what he could, too, as he registered 12 points, 4 rebounds, an assist, and a steal in nearly 32 minutes of action as a starter but unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

"In the last six, seven weeks, we had Pierre Jackson. He's the main point guard," said El Hajj. "He's delivering for all his teammates, he's controlling the tempo and the game. He signed in China. So now, tonight, we forced Bobo to play point guard. His real position is 2."

"We had many players playing out of position. We're really ready for this game, but the last couple of days were hard for us. We even lost one game in the Lebanese league because of this problem," continued the Lebanese men's national team chief tactician.

Sagesse dropped to 2-2 in Group A of the West Asia League following the road loss but El Hajj remains positive of their campaign. The team signed veteran floor general Jonathan Gibson recently, and the team hopes to finally have a stable presence in the playmaker position.

"We signed a new guy. He will be with us next week," he said. " Hopefully in the upcoming days we will solve it, and we will come back and we'll be seriously competing for the championship."

FIBA