Palestine Basketball Federation President excited for national team's new look heading into Asia Cup Qualifiers
PALESTINE – Palestine Basketball Federation (PBF) President, Ibrahim Habash, expresses excitement and shares his plans to improve Palestines chances at qualifying for FIBA Asia Cup 2021.
RAMALLAH (Palestine) – There is excitement in the air for Palestinian basketball. It's been a while since they had made their first appearance in the FIBA Asia Cup which was back in 2015. Now with the results of the Asia Cup Qualifiers Draw, Palestine knows who they will have to go through to get a direct ticket to the Asia Cup in 2021.
Palestine were drawn into Group F with Jordan, Kazakhstan, and Sri Lanka.
President of the Palestine Basketball Federation (PBF), Ibrahim Habash, firmly believes that the team has a high possibility of getting one of the two top seeds of the group. He is excited, in particular, for the team’s chances to play against one of their neighbors.
“It’s always a special moment when we meet our brothers, Jordan. I’m looking forward to a fierce battle with them," Habash said. The two nations also clashed at the Asia Cup 2015, though Jordan would win that bout 94-82.
The level of competition at the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers will be high. Every team wants a piece at a chance to win the FIBA Asia Cup in 2021 and the road starts here. Palestine has their stars targeted and it will be a matter of putting the pieces together.
“Sani Sakakini is our pride and we are looking to build a solid team around him. We will make sure to have Jamal Abu-Shamala with us again,” Habash said of the nation’s two brightest stars.
At the Asia Cup 2015, Sakakini averaged 22.4 points and 12.6 rebounds while Abu Shamala put up 21.5 points and 8.5 boards per contest for 10th placed Palestine. However, Habash knows they still have more work to do.
“We are looking to improve everything regarding national team,” Habash stated.
The process will mainly focus on the development of their players within their local talent pool. Habash adds that the federation will have a B team to give youngsters a platform to develop and that they are working hard to have better local competitions.
"Our local players are 70 percent of the team and they're doing the best to develop themselves," said Habash.
The President also mentions a future announcement of signing a Turkish coaching staff to handle the team. They are also in the search for a naturalized player with several names shortlisted who most probably will be a point guard who can score. Throughout the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Pre-Qualifiers West Region, Palestine had scoring guard Mark Hill who averaged 15.5 points and 6.5 assists per game.
By the time the Qualifiers start, Palestine might have quite a new look.
“We seek to connect with players of Palestinian origin whether in the US, Latin America or Europe. We have a possibility to have 3 or 4 new players in the roster,” Habash said.
There will be plenty of excitement about the Palestine national team. Whether it’s about who will be on the team for the Qualifiers to how well they play and if they can qualify for Asia Cup 2021, it will be a fun time to be a fan.
FIBA