06 Jan. 2016 – The first round of the Lebanese basketball championship has come to an end, with Tadamon, Homenetmen, Sagesse and Byblos all starting their campaign with a win!
But, with the newly introduced 3 imports/per team system, how did the Lebanese players fare in comparison with the increased number of imports?
In the first round, a total of 645 points was scored. The Lebanese players scored 209 points out of this total, which makes up 32.4% of the score, while the import players scored 436 points (67.6%).
When we compare these numbers to the first round last year, we can see a significant decline in the Lebanese numbers. Indeed, last season, a total of 594 points were scored in the first round, with the Lebanese players scoring 277 out of them. This makes up 46.63% of the score. This issue is very debatable and many people have voiced their concerns such as coach Ghassan Sarkis. [Check out what he said]
On the other hand, the top scorers in this round were also imports, but that is not something new in the league. Fadi El Khatibi is probably the player who challenged foreign players the most at scoring.
The top 3 imports in scoring this round were Nikoloz from Champville with 30 points, Vladan from Tadamon with 29 and Mike Efevberha with 26 points. In the Lebanese top scorers meanwhile, we saw the resurgence of Elie Stephan who seems to be getting his form back. He scored 23 points against Homentmen while Ahmad Ibrahim was the best Lebanese scorer with 36 points. His teammate in Homenetmen, Sevag Ketenjian scored 18 points in third place.
Here are the standings of the Lebanese Basketball League so far:
| Pos | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | PF | PA | DIFF | L10 | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tadamon | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | - | 82 | 68 | 14 | 1-0 | W1 |
| 2 |  Homenetmen | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | - | 114 | 102 | 12 | 1-0 | W1 |
| 3 |  Sagesse | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | - | 76 | 66 | 10 | 1-0 | W1 |
| 4 |  Byblos | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | - | 69 | 68 | 1 | 1-0 | W1 |
| 5 |  Riyadi | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - |
| 6 |  Louaize | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 1 | 68 | 69 | -1 | 0-1 | L1 |
| 7 |  Hoops | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 1 | 66 | 76 | -10 | 0-1 | L1 |
| 8 |  Champville | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 1 | 102 | 114 | -12 | 0-1 | L1 |
| 9 |  Mouttahed | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 1 | 68 | 82 | -14 | 0-1 | L1 |
The post Lebanese Basketball – Round 1: Stats Comparison between Lebanese and Import Players appeared first on Sports 961.