JEDDAH (Saudi Arabia) Adversity could lead to success, as they say, and that appears to be the case for Al-Ahli Jeddah in the FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) Season 2.

The Saudi Arabian side on Tuesday night won their second in a row by snapping the three-game winning streak of Muharraq in blowout fashion, continuing what has been a major turnaround for a team that started the tournament with three consecutive losses.

We have confidence; I think we can go in, and we can beat Kuwait if we keep up the high-level intensity on defense." - DeAndre Liggins

 For DeAndre Liggins, it's all because of Head Coach Ali Alsanhani's decision to make his charges more defensive-oriented to address the absence of Devin Ebanks.

"Coach Ali, I think, when Ebanks went down, we had to change our identity, and it's been defense," offered the 35-year-old veteran during the postgame press conference of their 95-65 victory at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports Hall. "I love it."

Ebanks was the lynchpin of Al-Ahli's offense in the first half of the Group Phase with 24.3 points, but the former NBA veteran went down with a leg injury and has been out since.

That prompted Alsanhani and Co. to change things up, and there's no doubt that the move is effective as they have given new life to their campaign. From being a luckless bunch, the team has now thrown itself in the thick of the fight for a Gulf League Final Phase ticket.

Thanks to their renewed commitment to D, Al-Ahli pulled off a great comeback from 19 points down to beat Al Rayyan to break through into the win column.

Then, their mauling of the Bahraini club on Tuesday night at home saw them limit the latter to a season-low 65 points. They also forced their counterparts to commit 21 turnovers, including nine in the first quarter alone, to set the tone of the romp.

As someone who takes pride in being a defender, Liggins couldn't be any more satisfied with the kind of change the coaches brought. "Me, as a defensive player, I love it. I love to play man-to-man, full court. I love to press. I'm happy he did this," said the ex-NBA guard.

"It's been a big change, and a big change that's helping us win ball games. I just think everybody is willing to play defense; everybody is having fun playing defense. Because defense is not easy. It's very hard. But everybody's buying in and I'm lovin' it," he added.

With the way they've been rolling, Liggins has grown confident in their chances moving forward, particularly in their remaining Group Phase assignment against Kuwait Club, which is in the midst of a two-game losing skid after a 13-game winning streak in the sub-zone.

"Yea. I think we have momentum now," he said. "We got confidence, and we're relying on our defense—our defense is going to win ball games. We have Hollis Thompson, who can score 30 a night. We have guys who can score 15 or more. We have guys willing to play defense."

"I think the biggest change, like I said, is defensively. We have confidence; I think we can go in, and we can beat Kuwait if we keep up the high-level intensity on defense."

FIBA