Interbasket

We’ve had a lot of positive traction on our forum from some under-represented regions as we’ve recently received some great members from Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, and Syria.

Great Egytian and Iranian Basketball Threads
First off, I wanted to recognize a couple great informational forum threads regarding domestic basketball leagues in Iran and Egypt. mohsena2631 and soliman have created and have updated these league threads with stats, news and other pertinent information. Check them out here: Egyptian Basketball and Iranian Basketball Super League.

Fadi El-Khatib Stronger than Yao Ming?
With only a few days left before polls close on the 2007 Interbasket Awards, we’ve had an influx of Lebanese basketball fans voicing their opinions on why Fadi El-Khatib deserves the Interbasket Asian Basketball Player of the 2007 Award over Yao Ming. Many of the votes may be nationalistic, but some true die-hards strongly believe that Fadi is the one.

What about Michael Madanly of Syria?
Also recently, Interbasket has been visited by Syrian basketball fans pushing for the inclusion of Syrian superstar Michael Madanly (misspelt several different ways on our forum mandanly, maadanly, madanley) into the 2007 Asian Player nominees. Unfortunately, we are too far late in the game to have included him. It’s nothing personal against him, just didn’t make much sense with the polls closing soon and Fadi and Yao so far ahead in voting. I hope that the Syrians stick around to nominate him in 2008 if he Madanly is still deserving.

A Question of Weighing Accomplishments
Even with Madanly having been included in our nominations for 2007 IBN Asian Basketball Player of the year, we still have the difficulty of selecting a player from a pool of players that participate in separate leagues.

It’s a question of worth — Does Yao Ming deserve the award simply because he is an all-league center, an all-star, maybe the best center on the earth playing in the toughest basketball league?

Or do we go for great domestic players that are setting precedence, as Fadi Khatib recently did dominating the Ukranian third league in his first year with Cherkaski Mavpi? How much is social change factor in when awarding player of the year?

Or do we go with players like Wang Zhizhi (China), Hamed Haddadi (Iran) or Michael Madanly (Syria)? These players may not be well-known across the continents, but accomplished much in 2007; from leading their team to domestic league championships in 2007 (Wang), leading their country to a surprising gold medal in the 2007 Asian Championships (Haddadi), to being the unquestioned best player in their country, and the leading scorer in the 2007 Dubai Cup and 2007 Asian Club Cup (Madanly).

Weighing the Diversity of Basketball
Different leagues, different competition levels, different awards, different circumstances, different social barriers; so how do does one reconcile all that to select one player? In a way, that’s the beauty of learning about international basketball - all the subtle and extreme differences.

My suggestion is to inform yourself about each player nominated and understand their circumstances. What if Yi Jianlian wins an NBA championship in 2014 and is the first Asian player to take home a NBA Finals MVP, but what if it was the same year that an 6-3 point guard from the Philippines leads his team to a unexpected silver in the Asian Championships, becomes the first Filipino drafted by the Spanish league and becomes an all-ACB performer? (I know that’s an impossible timeline for one calendar year, but I’m just using it to make a point)

o do those three accomplishments (Silver medal as an underdog, first Filipino in ACB, all-ACB) weigh more than an NBA Championship and NBA Finals MVP in your mind? It’s social change vs. important awards and though both are deserving, it would be up to you to decide which is a larger in the big picture. And the best way to do that is to inform yourself before choosing your winner.

Sources and Info: Egyptian league 07/08 - rosters (Forum Thread), Iranian Basketball Super League (Forum Thread), Iranian Basketball Player Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami dies in car accident, Iran: The rising basketball power of Asia, Fadi El-Khatib Dominates First Game in Europe (News), 2007 Interbasket Awards, 2007 IBN Asian Player of the Year (Forum Thread), Middle East Basketball Forum (Interbasket), 2007 Asian Championships Forum, 2007 Dubai Cup (Interbasket).

It’s that time of year for the IBN awards to be handed out, but first we need players to be nominated. This year we’ve added a couple categories, and we’re looking for the best players from 2007, and only accomplishments in 2007 (need help remembering? click here). Hurry, post your nominations in our forum thread, as we will only accept nominations until December 24th.

* Player of the Year: (any country)
* NBA Player of the Year: (any country)
* Euroleague Player of the Year: (any country)
* International Player of the Year: (non-US)
* U22 Player of the Year: (any country, Under 22-years-old, must not have turned 22 in 2007)
* African Player of the Year: (any African-born player)
* Asian Player of the Year: (any Asian-born player)
* European Player of the Year: (any European-born player)
* Latin American Player of the Year: (any Latin American-born player)
* North American Player of the Year: (any US/Canadian-born player)
* Oceanic/Australian Player of the Year: (any Oceanic/Australian-born player)

You may nominate three teams for the following category:
* Team of the Year: (any country)

You may nominate 3 players for the following categories (these will determine the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd teams):
* All-World Team Guard of the Year : (any country)
* All-World Team Guard of the Year : (any country)
* All-World Team Forward of the Year : (any country)
* All-World Team Forward of the Year : (any country)
* All-World Team Center of the Year : (any country)

It’s unlikely Pau Gasol will repeat this year as IBN’s Player of the Year. Will Yao Ming again dominate the Asian Player of the year category? And with Rudy Fernandez turning 22 this year, who will be the new U-22 player of the year?

So who is on your list? LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Dimitris Diamantidis and Ramunas Siskauskas had fantastic years. In a lesser extent, so has Luis Scola and Tony Parker. Sure, Joaquim Gomes led Angola to the Afrobasket championships, but did he have a better year than Luc Richard Mbah A Moute of Cameroon and UCLA? What of Steve Nash, Theodoros Papaloukas, and Leandro Barbosa?

Was Andrei Kirilenko’s performance in the Eurobasket enough to overshadow his terrible playin the NBA playoffs and his subsequent dispute with the Utah Jazz? Nominate whom you think deserves an IBN award today.

Related: 2007 Interbasket Award Nomination Thread, List of 2006 IBN Award Winners, What Happened in Basketball in 2007 (Wikipedia)

In honor of Interbasket’s fourth anniversary, I wanted to do something special. And what you are reading right now is the new and much improved Interbasket homepage.

If I may say so myself, it’s a marked improvement over any of the other versions (Duh). Speaking of which - does anyone remember the logo to the left? If you do, you must be an IBN old-timer.

The homepage overhaul has been long overdue (a severe understatement) so I appreciate everyone’s patience. I’ve spent the last two weeks (and the majority of this weekend) working on it, tweaking it, and making it just right. I’ll be further tweaking it, so expect to see more and more options in the near future.

So register for the site (you have to in order to make comments), play around with it, leave some comments, report any errors, make some suggestions… would love to hear it all. And don’t forget to check out the About IBN section. What better time than our fourth anniversary to bone up on Interbasket’s history?

Cheers, Stuart

Welcome to the new and improved Interbasket Homepage. As with our other updates to the index, it’s been loooooong overdue. Thanks for everyones’ patience., we have been listening to your suggestions despite the delay. From now on, we’ll be posting the most exciting international basketball news on this page so keep your eye out… no need to adjust your bookmarks - the index will automatically redirect to this site.

Please be patient. You may see some odd-formatting and some small issues as we work out all the kinks and get accustomed to the new technology and layout. If you have any questions or comments, good or bad. Click the related link below. Originally posted 08/17/2007

[related thread]

Interbasket Talks with Lebanese star-guard Rony Fahed

Interbasket.net: Hey Rony, thanks so much for taking time out to talk to Interbasket, we all really do appreciate your time and hope you all the best.
Rony Fahed: No problem, my pleasure..

IBN: Rony, how would you describe yourself as a basketball player?
Fahed: First, I am a team player that fears no one, plays with my heart and brain, I am quick and i like to shoot the three, find other teammates and make them look better, I want to win everytime i play this game…

IBN: Do you have a nickname?
Fahed: Not a specific one, but sometimes they call me “big heart”

IBN: Where are the places that basketball has taken you, and which countries/cities have you enjoyed the most?
Fahed: So many places; India, China, Japan, Iran, Malaysia, Philippines, Dubai, Egypt, Tunis, Morocco, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Slovenia, and USA. The place I enjoyed the most was the USA during 2002 world championship.

IBN: What is your favourite basketball move?
Fahed: Coming off the pick and roll and make things happen…

IBN: How would you rate yourself in the last world cup and are you happy about lebanon result?
Fahed: I think i had a pretty good tournament, people were proud of me and the national team, and considering the war and its circumstances we did a great job.

IBN: Who on the Lebanese national team has the most potential to be in the nba other than Fadi?
Fahed: I think Joe Vogel has the potential, and myself, if I am at my best.

IBN: What is it like playing alongside Fadi El Khatib?
Fahed: It is just great,playing alongside him make things easier,Fady and I did some many things together for our national team ,i hope this year we will win with blue stars every tournament we play in

IBN: Are you currently living in Lebanon?
Fahed: yes

IBN: What does Blue Stars need to be able to beat Riyadi?
Fahed: The right chemistry

IBN: Do you think sagesse will be back this season or they are over ??
Fahed: Sagesse is never over…

IBN: what were you thinking when you took those two 3-pointers against qatar last year when the score was 69-69?
Fahed: Actually there was no time to think, the decision was last second. I was feeling it from the begining of the game, but what I know is that i am not afraid to take those kinda of shots anytime and against whomever.

IBN: How would you describe the current status of basketball in Lebanon and what we might see from Lebanon in the future?
Fahed: we have a very good basket ball,we prove it and the junior national team did prove it also by qualifying to the world championship this year,but needs new ideas to improve the league and more sponsorchip,we need to be 100% professional..

IBN: You played against the philippines,what can you tell us about that team?
Fahed: Very organised and quick team, they shoot the three very well and play together.

IBN: Who were your idols growing up and influenced you to play basketball? In Lebanon and outside of Lebanon?
Fahed: From Lebanon was Tony Baroud, and outside Lebanon, from the NBA, Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson.

IBN: Who is the best player you have played with? Against?
Fahed: With Danny Johnson and against Manu Ginobili

IBN: Who do you think is the best player in the world? Asia?
Fahed: Kobe Bryant, and Yao Ming in asia

IBN: Who’s the best guard in Asia?
Fahed: Well, i think i am

IBN: Do you ever see yourself in the NBA?
Fahed: It’s the best, I always imagine to have a shot and see how is it like.

IBN: There were rumours that you had offers to play in europe, can you tell us if they were true and a little something about them??
Fahed: It is true, I got some offers, First it was a team from Turkey, and then from a team from Czech Republic, but i still have one year with Blue Stars.

IBN: Again thanks for your time Rony, we at Interbasket wish you the best of luck. Hopefully we’ll see you soon again.
Fahed: Thanks for everyone, I think it was nice interview, hope you will like it…

IBN: I am certain we will…