AMMAN (Jordan) - Legendary player-turned-coach Sam Daghlas took the time to break down his current coaching life and his playing days in the Asia Cup on a live talk on the @FIBAAsiaCup Instagram account.

Daghlas played in 5 Asia Cups for the Jordan national team (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2015) before coaching another Asia Cup in 2017. He made it to 4 straight Quarter-Finals with Jordan, winning the bronze medal in 2009 and the silver medal in 2011. Daghlas played in 40 Asia Cup games averaging 10.5 points per contest.

How are you doing?

Man, I'll tell you what I'm spending a lot of time with the family. It's time I didn't get to have as much throughout my playing career and throughout my coaching career so far, so I've been taking advantage of hanging out with my two kids with my wife. At the same time, I'm trying to do some new things, trying to get better at whatever I can.

Can you share with us a bit of what new things you are trying to develop right now?

In coaching, I'm always trying to think of new ways to better my players. New ways in the player development aspect a bit. New ways to make them see the game better and to comprehend game situations. So I'm always trying to watch the replay of the games, seeing different defensive coverage, seeing how I can present it to the players, make them understand it better and in the same time make sure the player development side of it is going to help him lead into the game.

We do a lot of Zoom call meetings between the coaching staff in which I install different ideas, what we learned this year, the pros and cons, and moving forward. So you don't want just to waste this time for nothing, you want to try to better yourself however you can and be ready because whenever this time does come to an end, you have to jump right back into it.

We saw you do an online session with Jimmy [Alapag]!

To the people that don't know, Jimmy and I are great friends. We're like brothers. We're both southern California kids where we played high school, junior college ball and college ball. We played against each other a lot throughout our playing career and he did amazing things for his country. We always battled on the national team level. It's nice to see both of us in the coaching route, and I told him, hopefully, one day, we'll both be in the same place where our goal is set with either both of us together, or we'll both be facing each other once again.

How has that shift been going into coaching so early after you stopped playing yourself?

I say it has its pros and its cons. It's not as easy as everyone thinks. You have to adjust, and you have to learn. One thing about me, I am never afraid of failing and making mistakes. We all make mistakes. I just go home like 'What the hell was I thinking today?' I'll learn from it; I'll run my notes, and be like 'Alright, I gotta do better next time'.

But I think the hardest thing that I had to adjust to is knowing that you can't want it more than your players. Somehow, someway, you have to make them want it and let them grab it and eat it themselves. You can't feed them; you can't spoon-feed them. Early on, I wanted the players to want it as hard as me, to train as hard as I did, to put in all the time. Unfortunately, you can't have 12 guys that way, so I had to reflect on my playing days. All 12 of us were crazy about coming in early, so that was the thing that I had to learn.

I had to learn about communication. I had to learn how to talk to people differently. Every player you got to talk to in a different tone, in a different way. The basketball aspect, we'll say the X's and O's are essential, but what's most important is how you can unite your group together, how can you bring 12 guys, unite them, and let them play together. You can have the best coach, X's and O's guys, but if he can't combine that group together, I'm sorry, it's not going to work. You can have the simplest offense, but if that coach knows how to motivate those players and make them go out there and fight, they'll figure out a way to win for him.

A lot of good advice here for anyone looking to go through that coaching route, Sam Daghlas giving out a lot of tips. Going back to the start you got an early opportunity coaching Jordan national team, how did that experience go for you?

It was an honor. Not too many people know I left the basketball game still able to play the game. I walked away because I wanted to better the country of Jordan. At that time in 2016, excuse my language, we were awful at basketball. The league wasn't good, the national team took a big dive in the past few years since 2011, and we needed a change.

At the time, I felt like, 'Who knows Jordan basketball better than Sam Daghlas? Who knows Asia better than Sam Daghlas?'. I mean, I know most of every country well, and I knew the players well, and I knew they needed a voice that they could believe would fight for them.

Early on, it was all about gaining trust from the players and allowing players to seeing that there's a better light at the end of the tunnel. That's all it was early on and getting them to train the proper way again and believe in that training. That's all it was. I want to say for the first year because Jordan basketball was at such a down point, the support wasn't there. A lot of things weren't there. It was a constant struggle day in and day out. So most of my effort was trying to keep the guys positive. That was the hard part. Every day, not knowing what's happening tomorrow. As a coach, you're dealing with so much off the court where when you get on the court; you're happy finally getting to do what you're here for. Unfortunately, I had to do so much off the court for these players.

Nonetheless, everything you did throughout your whole career both as a coach and a player, the fans appreciated. A lot of them coming to show their love in the comments section. Even from the Philippines, you played there as well, right?

I did, and the Philippines was one of my most favorite countries that I played in. I played in China for four years and that one season in the Philippines with Talk 'N Text in the PBA. I was always a fan of PBA basketball, especially their fans, and how much love and passion they have. I've always loved their nature and loved their brand, I had the opportunity to play, and I jumped on it.

How was the experience this past season coaching in the NBA G-League?

Amazing, great! To be under the Houston Rockets-affiliated team, the Vipers, you get so much support from the Rockets, and it trickled down to everything. Working with a great head coach, he's a friend of mine. One of our assistants is a phenomenal guy. You learn the NBA game because it's different. After all, I've been in international basketball for so long.

I've watched a lot of NBA games. I do have NBA coaches as mentors that I follow up with and every summer I still go to Summer League. I still go to training camps just to stay around so when the opportunity came knocking on my door, I had to jump on it. It's moving up the ladder as we say. You want to be in G-League now. It's one route to get into the NBA just because everyone is watching the G-league and they're working together, so it's been a fantastic experience. I am learning a lot, learning the NBA game much better now. I'm more comfortable with it, and you see how things are done on that end, especially on the professional side, how they deal with players versus how we dealt with players on the international side. It's been amazing and working with the Rockets, their GM and the GM of the Vipers, they've been phenomenal, the tools that they give you to succeed.

Sticking with the topic of Asia basketball and you being in the G-League: Japan star, Yudai Baba, played in the G-League last season. I'm guessing you got to scout him a bit. Can you say a few things about him as a fellow Asian basketball player?

I got to watch Baba play this past summer in the Summer League, and then, of course, he ended up staying in the G-League [with the Texas Legends]. We're in the same conference, so we played them four times. He improved a lot from the first game to the last game, confidence-wise, the flow, understanding the game, very talented player.

Now, will he make an NBA team? The sky's the limit. I think that's [depending on] his work ethic and whether he can play that position, which is one of the hardest positions in the NBA, the two-guard. You have to be 6'5'-6'6". You have to be athletic. You have to be able to knock it down. You have to be able to put the ball on the floor and do a variety of different things.

He is - from what I heard because I know their head coach very well - well-loved. They love him very much there; they love his work ethic. I was impressed with him. He definitely showed that he could play at this level. Now the next thing is to show us if he can hang in at the NBA level.

Enough about other people playing. Let's go back to your playing days. You played in 5 Asia Cups. That's a long period. What were some of your most favorite moments playing in the competition over the years?

I have to say Asia Cup 2009 and 2011 were my favorites.

2009 was my favorite because, to be honest with you, I thought we should have won it. If we had won the game against Iran that we lost by [2 points] in the Semi-Finals, we would have won the championship game. We were very, very well-prepared for that tournament, and unfortunately, we shot awfully that game against Iran. We couldn't buy a bucket, and we ended up losing by [2 points]. That was devastating, but at the same time, we were able to stay together and come out the next night and beat Lebanon for 3rd place to qualify for the World Cup. That's something that's never been done in Jordan history at the men's level, so that was huge. That game will always come back to me as something great. It's bittersweet because we lost to Iran, but we won [in the last game].

In 2011, we were going into the tournament with another great coach. In 2009, we were coached by coach [Mario] Palma, one of my favorite coaches. Then, we're going with coach Tab Baldwin, and he knows his things in the basketball world. It was an exciting tournament; we were two different teams. First five or four games, we were one team. Then the last four games, we were a different team entirely. Early on, we were just sluggish, we were out of rhythm, and then something clicked. I think we just got fed up with being average and playing garbage basketball, and we just turned it on against Iran.

Once we beat Iran, I'll tell you what, we knew we were going to win the championship. Until today, I have no idea how we lost. I kind of blame myself to probably have a better game probably would have won because I've always taken responsibility for anything. At the end of the day, we played China in China, and when they're on their court in front of millions of people, to come out short by one it's heartbreaking till today, but it's still great because it was our first time going to the championship game. Those two really stood out for me.

Through those runs, you gained a lot of fans from everywhere over Asia. Actually one of those guys tuned in right now, Thirdy Ravena, he's a current player for the Philippines, he's the son of Bong Ravena at TNT. he says he always went to watch you at practice back then. So you really have a reach across the entire continent. How does that feel being a player that is not only highly regarded in his own country but in other countries as well?

You don't think about it as a player while you're playing because one thing I learned growing up from the veteran players that taught me the game is to do the work, and then the fame just comes later. So I never really worried about it. All I wanted everybody to see was that I played every game like it's my last game, and I put my soul and heart into it. I prepared well for every game; I wanted to play it mentally and physically the correct way. I think just by that, the fans appreciated it.

I think I appreciate them more now that they still show me, love. I retired 3-4 years ago, and for them to still show me love is fantastic. I still think of the moments that I played in different countries, and I appreciate it. That's my advice to every player: When you step on the court, I don't care what's going on, when you're between those lines, put on a show. Whoever is watching is here to watch you. Let them go home and be like 'You know what? This player made me feel good today for those 1-2 hours; he made me forget about life and want to become a basketball player'.

Usually, that's what I tell my players. Don't worry about fame and how many followers you have. Worry about the actual game because once you win and you show players and the fans that you are willing to work and give everything you got, they're going to love you. That comes naturally.

Speaking like a true coach and someone who has been there! Is there a special meaning behind the number 10 which you wore over the years?

National team, number 10. I'm a huge Kobe fan. I wore 13 at the time [with clubs] because I love Steve Nash, and I liked 13 because people said it's not a lucky number. A lot of people don't like that number. I wanted to make it my lucky number. I tried to change things. I'm like 13 is going to be my lucky number. I'm going to make it a good number. So I'll always wear 13 club-wise. But I've never worn it on the national team. On the national team, I didn't want to wear 13. Kobe wore 10 on the national team level with USA. I'm a huge Kobe fan, and that's where the number 10 came from.

You went up against some of the best over the course of an entire decade in Asia. Aside from playing on the national team, you also got to play in both China and the Philippines professionally. Who did you really enjoy playing against throughout this period?

The games that were always the games that you really had to wake up for were Lebanon against Iran. Those two national teams. They're near us; they're around us, they're in West Asia. Their fans and our fans watch each other and they keep track of what this team did and such. You always had to be ready to play those two games because everybody is watching. It's the same timezone. Everybody knows you are playing Jordan. On that game everybody is watching you around the world, everybody that is Lebanese or Jordanian because it's like bragging rights and the same goes for Iran.

Now come to other Asian countries, it's the Philippines. Just because of the Philippines, it's always been like we face them a lot in the Quarter-Finals or Semi-Finals.

I've always told Jimmy [Alapag] this: when some years that he's not playing, it's a whole different preparation for me. When Jimmy's playing, it's a different preparation because now you've got a computer, a mind, processing everything. You know he's going to be a leader out there, where if it's Jayson Castro, it's different. He's a scoring PG, and all you're thinking about is 'I need to stop this guy' because he's going to score in bunches, so you have to be careful.

So those are the matchups that I always looked forward to.

China... it's always been tough because every time that we played China, it's always been in their house. That was kind of frustrating because we never got to play China on a neutral site. 2009 it's on their floor [in Tianjin], 2011 it's on their floor [in Wuhan], 2015 [in Changsha], my last national team competition, in China again. It's tough to beat China in China.

On a more personal level, just for you, who are some players, aside from Jimmy - because you obviously like to play against Jimmy - who are some players that you want to go at on the floor and go back and forth against?

Fadi [El Khatib] was one of them. Me and hi,m we had a different kind of competition. We didn't play in the same position, but at the same time, I wanted to beat him just the same how he wanted to beat me. He carried the country the same way I did, so he's a guy that I always wanted to play that game against, and I was ready for that game.

Another guy was Samad [Nikkah Bahrami]. Samad was another guy that I knew was going to bring his best game, and I had to match his intensity, match his scoring, match his defense upside.

China had Liu Wei running the point guard. I enjoyed playing against them because it was fun.

Those are the high-level guys that are always stuck on my head. We can never forget Michel Madanly from Syria. Regardless of what team he played on, for some odd reason, he was always going to put up 40 points. You still had to worry about keeping him in check because he'll just score 40 and keep his team in it.

It's been amazing to play against so many great players. I apologize if I missed some, but those are just some who are off the top of my head.

If you've been following us, we had Jimmy naming you among his All-Time Asia Cup Starting Five while Mario Wuysang had it down to a coin toss for his last spot between you and Samad. What do you think of that as in the thought of playing in a team with the likes of Fadi, Yao, Hamed?

 

I think we would be able to compete with the top European teams, to be honest with you. We will be stacked because that's what playing in Europe is about. You can mix and match any players you want. It's open. Now you're putting a Sam Daghlas at 6'4" as a point guard. I mean you got a tall, big team there and now it's a different ball game. There are no mismatches. These are players who know how to think in the game, so I think definitely we can beat some European teams. With have those five, for sure, I think we can play at a high level because we have players who know the game very well.

What are your thoughts about being coached by Jimmy?

(smiles and laughs) Oops, I would sweetly enjoy it!

That would be fun. I don't know if too many people know, but I was always very close with every coach I played for. I've always had a good relationship where we have open transparency where if I feel something strongly about something, I'm going to voice it out. But at the end of the day, I'm fighting for you, and I will never undermine a head coach. I learned that at a young age. Regardless of what the coach says, I'm going to play for you; I'm going to fight for you. I'll never go to management and say 'Hey, it's his fault'.

I always said we are the players. I always said, 'It's me'. I missed the shot and messed up the coverage and all that. I've always been very close to all my coaches. I've learned a lot. Most of my coaching philosophy comes a little bit from everyone. How they did it, why they did it, would I do something different, tweak it because I didn't think the players liked it.

Jimmy's going to be a fantastic coach; he's on his way to do great things.

Now for your selections, who would be on your All-Time Asia Cup Starting Five?

Ooh, that's going to be a tough one. Let's see.

You know what? I will not put Yao Ming in there for a reason. I only got to play against Yao Ming one time. That was way back, so it's not fair. He is probably one of the best Asian players of all-time, we're not going to argue with that. But it's not fair to put him on that stage.

So the five position, definitely you have to put Hamed in there just because he has so many titles and winning championships means a lot to me. You cannot discredit him for that, and you have to put him on there. At the 4, I just must go with one of the guys that fought with me for so many years. I have to put my guy, Zaid Abbas, at the four just because this guy is a winner, a fighter. I have put him at the 4. At the 3, I must put, of course, I'll put Samad at the three just because dude can score. Then at the 2, I'll put Fadi so I can have a big team.

Then at the 1… who do I put at the 1? I'm going to coach this team, correct?

If you want to!

If I'm going to put the PG on there, I'm going to go ahead and put it… umm… PG… so many great point guards. Wow. You know what? With that team, oops, such a tough one at the point guard position, man.

Because I have so many scorers on my team, I have to put Jimmy at the one, to be honest with you. I'll put Jimmy at the one just because we need a passing point guard.

 

As a coach, what would be your go-to strategy with that team going into games?

Oh, we would run! We'll be an up and down team. We'll be such a fast team. We're running and going, and we'll probably be switching every pick and roll. We'll switch everything with that lineup. We'll be such a big team.

What would be the first drill you run in the first practice with this team?

The first thing I'm going to tell them is to trust. You gotta learn to trust each other and move that ball. The ball cannot stick in anybody's hands. We've got five stars on that team and the ball cannot stick. You need to have a point-five mentality. If you have a gotta shot, you take it. If you don't, move it. That's how we can be deadly with that squad. If we start holding the ball, now we're starting to do the defense a favor. Having 5 All-stars like that? Move the ball and just get it going. You won't see too much post up. You probably see a small post up in Hamed, but only because he creates so many mismatches and he can pass the ball so damn well, excuse my language. I just want to be a quick team, fast team. Read the offense, quick shooting, a lot of shots. I don't like slow basketball. I like fast basketball.

What do you think about their group of young up-and-coming players, especially after coming off a second World Cup appearance?

We actually have some talent in Jordan recently. Starting with Ahmad Al Dwairi, who plays in Fenerbahce in Turkey. He's a stud, bright future; this kid's got a lot. Then, we got a kid, Amin [Abu Hawaas], that's been with me since he started playing on the national team. He's coming into his own. Hopefully, by next year, he'll become even better and gain more experience.

They just a new point guard [Freddy Ibrahim] that's about my height, that's pretty fast, very quick, and athletic I heard. I only got to watch a few games of him. So they're looking good. They got their 4 man Abu Wazneh who is playing much better, more comfortable now. Then they got some core older guys like Ahmad Al Harmasheh, Mousa Alawadi. I think those guys are going to be key to be in this team because those guys are going to set the standards in how to lead by example. Those are very important players to be a part of the team. I'd like to see Abbas be part of the team for one more year, so that he can teach some of the younger guys professionalism and how to prepare for games and train your body if he could do it.

If not, the guys who are in their early 30s need to be there to tell the guys in their early 20s how to do that because you never want to build a team from scratch. I'm not a fan of getting all young guys, because you need the veteran touch. You need the veterans to let guys know before a game and after losing a game how to react, how to deal with it. You always have to have your 3-4 veteran guys first and start putting in young guys with them.

Again very good stuff from a very wise coach. One final thought to Asia Cup fans, basketball fans all over the region before we turn this off.

One thing, I want to thank the fans. Truly from my heart, regardless of where in Chinese Taipei, in the Philippines, China. We played in Japan, in Lebanon, Iran, and they've always been around. The FIBA Asia fans have been great. They've always been great to me, and I want to thank them and appreciate them to let them know I'll never forget them. They're a big part of who Sam Daghlas is today.

For them to keep following me, if they have any questions, feel free to always reach out to me on my social media platform, whatever the case may be. Hopefully, you never know, I could be back on the sidelines, on the FIBA sidelines. Who knows? But I appreciate them and always thank you for tuning in.

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