MANILA (Enzo Flojo's Asia on My Mind) - The next player I will feature here on my weekly column's Asian Legends Series is one of my all-time love-hate hoopsters, mainly because he has beaten the Philippines a few times, but at the same time, I cannot help but idolize his play style and demeanor.

This guy is none other than iconic Jordanian floor general Sam Daghlas.

Sam was born on September 18, 1979, and grew up in San Diego, California, where he first picked up a basketball and played for the James Madison High School Warhawks. Even as a young high school freshman, Sam's talent enabled him to make it to the varsity squad, playing in all his four years.

He would then join the San Diego Mesa State after finishing high school, even being named Most Valuable Player (MVP) while playing two seasons for the Olympians. In 2001, Sam would transfer to Midwestern State University in Texas on an athletic scholarship, averaging around 10 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in just his first season as a Mustang.

After finishing his college eligibility in 2003, Sam flew to Jordan, where he joined the Fastlink Sports Club of the Jordanian Basketball League, being named MVP in just his maiden pro season.

Two years later, Sam would debut for the Jordan national team at the 2005 FIBA Asia Cup in Doha, Qatar. Aiming to rebound from a dismal 10th place finish two years prior, the Jordanians relied on their new playmaker to more smoothly orchestrate their offense.

Sam delivered, and how.

After dropping their first game against neighboring Lebanon, the Falcons rebounded with aplomb, beating hard-luck sides Hong Kong and India by an average of 51.0 points. That ensured that Sam & Co. would advance to the tournament quarter-finals for the first time in eight years.

After making it to the Round of 8, however, Sam and his teammates were in for a rude awakening, being dealt crushing defeats to Korea, Iran and home team Qatar. They would eventually split their last two assignments to finish at 7th place overall, but Sam and his ilk had bigger plans for the future.

In 2006, Sam had yet another strong showing in the JBL, powering Fastlink to another league title and helping them qualify to the 2006 FIB Asia Champions Cup in Kuwait. With a good chunk of Fastlink's roster made up of players on Jordan's national team, the club made quick work of most of their Champions Cup foes.

They swept their first-round group, outclassing clubs from Syria, Kuwait and India. In the knockout round, Sam and his crew continued to dominate, bumping off Lebanon's Sagesse before dethroning two-time champions Al-Rayyan of Qatar in the semi-finals. Fastlink found themselves in a rematch with Syria's Al-Jalaa Aleppo in the Champions Cup Final, but the Jordanians handily prevailed 94-69. That was a harbinger of the success that Sam and the Jordan national squad in general, were bound to enjoy in the years to come.

Not surprisingly, Jordan qualified for the 2007 FIBA Asia Cup in Tokushima, Japan, though they were drawn in the "Group of Death" with rising power Iran, traditional title contenders Philippines and defending champions China. That did little to faze Sam and his teammates, though, as they beat China and the Philippines in the first round to finish second in their group and, together with Iran, advance to the quarter-finals once again.

Heartbreaks, however, were lying in wait for Jordan. Even with naturalized player Rasheim Wright having a strong showing, they fell short against East Asia squads Korea and Japan in their second-round group, failing to advance to the semi-finals.

Jordan did end their campaign on a strong note, beating Qatar and Chinese Taipei in succession to finish among the top five in the biennial tournament for the first time ever. Indeed, the Jordanians were rapidly on the rise, and Sam's play was a big reason why. He averaged 9.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists while also shooting 37% from beyond the arc.

As good as the Falcons did in 2007, they would do even better in the 2009 FIBA Asia Cup in Tianjin, China. Again with Sam orchestrating the offense, Jordan turned a lot of heads. They swept their first-round group games, including a lopsided 17-point win over Lebanon, before going 2-1 in their second-round group, where they beat Kazakhstan and Qatar but lost home team China.

Jordan would face a much-ballyhooed Philippines in the knockout quarter-finals, and they would come out on top. Their 81-70 result over the Filipinos finally got the Jordanians over the hump and into the semi-finals, where their Cinderella run ended at the hands of powerhouse Iran, 77-75. They did manage to finish on the podium after triumphing over Lebanon, 80-66, in the battle for 3rd place. Sam was among Jordan's finest in that memorable competition. He was second overall in assists with 4.1 per game on top of 10.8 points. 3.1 rebounds and 1.0 steal per contest. By that time, Sam's place among the elite guards of the continent was already secured, but it was his performance two years later in Wuhan that would place his name in Asian basketball lore.

Entering the 2011 FIBA Asia Cup, Sam and the rest of Jordan didn't carry high expectations. Their results in the West Asia qualification matches left much to be desired, and they played poorly in the 2011 William Jones Cup, which was seen as the main preparation competition for the Asia Cup, finishing 6th place.

Several key players from their breakthrough 2009 run were also absent from the national roster like Fadel Al-Najjar, Mousa Al-Awadi, Mohammad Hadrab and especially key frontline players Jamal Maaytah and Ayman Idais.

In spite of all those handicaps, Jordan, with Daghlas emerging as a bona fide leader and under the tutelage of seasoned international head coach Tab Baldwin, proceeded to shock the continent.

Jordan went 2-1 in the first round, advancing to the next group stage together with Japan and Syria. In the second round, Jordan's seesaw campaign continued, losing to the Philippines and China before booking a ticket to the knockout round thanks to a win over the United Arab Emirates.

In the quarter-finals, Jordan needed to topple no less than defending champions Iran to remain standing, and nobody, perhaps except for themselves, expected that to happen. It was a nip-and-tuck affair against the Iranians, with Jordan trailing, 36-35, at the half. That was when Sam erupted, giving his teammates a passionate and rousing halftime speech that lifted their spirits. Despite entering the final quarter down by five points, Jordan had a strong finishing kick, dealing Iran a shocking loss, 88-84, and subverting any and all expectations.

In the semi-finals, Jordan faced yet another familiar foe in the Philippines, to whom they lost in the second round in rather controversial fashion. In their first meeting, you see, the Philippines, much to the consternation of Jordan's coaching staff, were suddenly allowed to field in two players previously thought of as ineligible, Filipino-Americans Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz. Of course, both made an impact and helped the Filipinos beat the Jordanians in that group game.

This time around, though, the Jordanians were in no mood for surprises. Instead, they defied expectations yet again, tripping the higher-seeded Philippines quite convincingly, 75-61, with Sam's aggressive play in full display. He scored 16 points in that game, with 10 coming from the free-throw line.

Into the Asia Cup Final the Jordanians barged for the first time ever, and on the opposite end of the floor were the unbeaten home team, China. The odds were stacked against Jordan, but it was something they were used to anyway. In a game that was much closer than it should have been, Jordan came within a whisker of pulling off one of the most earth-shattering upsets in Asian basketball, losing to the Chinese by the slimmest of margins, 70-69. Jordan finished 2nd place overall, though, which is their best in national team history.

Sam would miss the 2013 Asia Cup in Manila, but he returned in 2015, playing for the national team one final time at 36 years old. It was not the same, though, as Jordan tumbled to 9th place, with Sam's final appearance as a player on the international stage closing on a bit of a whimper.

Sam did continue work for the national team, becoming their head coach from 2016 to 2018. The highlight of his brief coaching stint for Jordan was their finishing 3rd place at the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge in Tehran, Iran before landing on 8th place at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in Beirut, Lebanon.

Sam also experienced world level basketball a couple of times. He played at the 2010 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Turkey, where he was among the tournament's assists leaders with 5.6 per game, just behind marquee names like Argentina's Pablo Prigioni, Brazil's Marcelinho Huertas and Serbia's Milos Teodosic. Sam also saw action at the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, putting 13.0 point2. 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game as Jordan went 0-2 against Greece and Puerto Rico.

It's also worth noting that Sam's success with the national team opened doors for him to play professionally outside Jordan. In 2006, he played on the Sacramento Kings' NBA Summer League team before being selected by the Idaho Stampede in the NBA D-League.

After Jordan's breakthrough campaign in 2009, Sam played as an import in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) for the Jilin Northeast Tigers. He would follow that up with more CBA stints, playing for the likes of the Shanxi Brave Dragons and the Tianjin Gold Lions.

His renown also led Sam to play as an Asian import in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) for one of its top pro teams, the Talk N Text Tropang Texters in 2015, teaming up with another Asian great, Jayson Castro. They had an ill-fated campaign, though, finishing with just five wins in 11 games.

With such a colorful history of playing in Asia, Sam Daghlas certainly deserves to be called a legend not just in his home country but even in the context of the entire continent. His contributions to the growth of the game in West Asia are incalculable, and as a 6ft 6in/1.98m playmaker, nobody else redefined the point guard position the way he did.

Enzo Flojo

FIBA

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