13 Jan. 2017 – Before the start of the Lebanese basketball league, Homenetmen & Champville met in the semi finals of the Henry Chalhoub basketball tournament. It was Coach Ghassans’s men who had the upper hand and won 89-77.
Now, both teams’ situations are completely different, with Homenetmen sitting at the top of the league table with a 7-1 record and Champville being way down in 7th with 3 wins and 6 losses.
After winning their opening game against Riyadi, Champville failed to deliver convincing performances while Homenetmen, boosted by the signing of Fadi El Khatib, managed to make an incredible 7-0 run to start the season, before losing a single game to current champions Riyadi.
Going into that game in Mezher, there are no doubts that Homenetmen are clear favorites. Their tall and fast lineup will be a headache for Champville, who may slow down the tempo in the game to have a chance.
The blue warriors will have to bring their A game, especially from long range, which may be tricky with the huge dip in Brandon Thomas’ performance. Nonetheless, the players will also have a big defensive task, most probably against Dewayne Jackson in order to make him take forced shots and shoot with low percentages. Another intriguing matchup will be between Darian Townes who is a good shooter and a great post player, and Ater Majok who’s one of the most athletic centers in the league. Townes will have a big role in keeping the rebounds balance in check and not let Homenetmen take a large lead in that category.
Another player who will help under the basket is Bassel Bawji. He’s no doubt Champville’s best Lebanese player so he needs to get back to his old self and be dominant. He will also probably defend the Lebanese legend Fadi El Khatib who can drop 20 in the worst situations.
Getting Fadi the ball on the low post will definitely cause problems for the blue soldiers, as he can get anyone into foul trouble. Another point that falls into Homenetmen’s favor is fast-break because Champville are one of the worst defensive teams and are very slow on the transition.
Moreover, there will undoubtedly be double teams on Jackson, Fadi and even help on Majok under the basket, which means Nadim Souaid and Galloway will have a lot of open shots that they have to hit. Haig can have a big role in that game coming off the bench as he’s a lethal shooter.
Good luck to both teams, with hopes that it will be an exciting game!
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