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Al Riyadi Beirut 2004-05 |
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Madison |
Vogel |
Ismail |
Ibrahim |
Rida |
AL Riyadi - Champion of the
Arabs after a sweet revenge from Fastlink 87-82
For the first time in its history, Al Riyadi who was crowned champion of
Lebanon a few weeks ago, clinched the Pan Arab Tournament cup after a
sweet revenge from Fast Link of Jordan (87-82) and earned the title of
the strongest basketball team in the whole Arab world for the 2004-2005
season. With that cup, Al Riyadi has succeeded in registering a flawless
basketball year performance by winning the cups of 6 tournaments out of
6 possible (Damascus tournament, Hariri tournament, Rashed Ben Maktoum
tournament, Lebanese Championship, Hamdan Ben Rashed tournament, and
finally the Pan Arab tournament) to conclude the season with an
absolutely bright performance. With this achievement, Riyadi has become
the first Lebanese team to win the Pan Arab Tournament outside of
Lebanon!
Riyadi’s heroes who haven’t had much rest throughout this very condensed
season refused but to add the sweetest topping on the cake by bringing
back the Pan Arab Championship title to Lebanon to realize the dream of
the die hard fans of this great club who have been supporting the team
throughout the years in bad and good and times, and who finally saw the
dream team head by Coach Fouad Abou Chakra breaking records, smashing
teams and collecting one cup after another.
Riyadi fans were present in thousands in Al Nasr Stadium today, coming
for all around the United Arab Emirates to cheer for their beloved team
and be on its side during this glorious day.
Game summary:
Riyadi players started the game with nothing on their mind but seeking
"revenge"! The determination was clear on the faces of the Lebanese
players! Coach Fouad Abo Chakra said prior to the game that the loss
against FastLink was the wake-up call; he emphasized that Riyadi went to
Dubai to become the Arab champions and nothing less - a promise
fulfilled by coach Abou Chakra !
The game seemed from the first second that it's going to take the
defensive side, a factor Riyadi had severe problems with in the last
game between the two teams. The tension was obvious on both teams and
that was translated on the ground by two early fouls by Ontario &
Thurman on J. Vogel & T. Madison consequently. However, Scotty Thurman –
FastLink’s savior in the game with 41 points - scored his first 2 points
of the game. Ismail Ahmad, defended by Ayman Deeass, replied quickly
from the same distance to score Riyadi's first points of the game. This
however didn't seem to break the ice and both teams missed twice before
Ali Mahmoud stole the ball while the possession was with FastLink to go
on the fast break and gets the foul. A. Mahmoud given 2 Free throws
didn't fail to score both and thus gave Riyadi the lead for the first
time in the game (4-2). Another miss by FastLink led to a defensive
rebound by I. Ahmad, J. Vogel took the shot but missed, yet I. Ahmad was
just in the place - like always - to grab the offensive rebound and
score another 2 points in the face of Ayman Deeass. Scotty Thurman
replied quickly with a 2 but J. Vogel scored as well from an offensive
rebound to give Riyadi a 4 points lead (8-4). I. Ahmad was again in the
correct place to snatch the offensive rebound and successfully score
after it. Till this moment, Riyadi best scorer in the first game against
FastLink Ghaleb Reda had a score balance of zero. Yet, this changed with
T. Madison going on the fast break and ditching the assist to G. Reda
who went over FastLink players like a beast to score the 2 points -
again in the face of Ayman Deeass! With 4 minutes 41 seconds to go from
the first quarter, J. Vogel committed his second personal foul of the
game. This foul forced coach Abo Chakra to take Vogel out and replace
him by Hussien Tawbee. Ali Mahmoud scoring from behind the arc following
Ontario's 2 gave Riyadi a 7 point lead (16-9). Madison added 2 points
after an assist from I. Ahmad to give Riyadi a double-score margin
(18-9). Thurman scored another 2 points for FastLink but Madison reply
came quick with also 2 points but from the free throw line. A. Mahmoud &
G. Reda scored 2 points each to end the first quarter of the game
Lebanese by 7 points (24-17)!
With the start of the second quarter, Scotty Thurman again added 2
points for the FastLink and was almost scoring all his team points (14
out of 19) but Madison reply came solid and quick after an outstanding
penetration. Ayman Deeass also scored 2 pts, after 3 offensive rebounds,
but again Madison was there to reply back hard with a 3 point after an
assist from Ali Mahmoud. Coach F. Abo Chakra replaced G. Reda with
Mohamad Ibrahim. The latter instantly forced the Jordanians to commit a
turnover after a steal; Ibrahim ditched the assist to Ali Mahmoud who
scored again from behind the arc. The score was (32-21) now for the
Lebanese team and FastLink coach called the timeout! With 6 minutes and
14 seconds till the end of the second quarter, Madison added 2 pts for
his team from the free throw line to increase the gap to 13 pts (34-21).
Thurman again scored for FastLink or shall I say alone for FastLink
while Riyadi were continuing the team-play game and I. Ahmad added
another 2 pts after an assist from A. Mahmoud. Madison scored again 2
pts followed by 2 pts for Thurman (22 pts of 31 for his team) but
despite Thurman's observable performance, Riyadi was still in the lead
with 14 pts (39-25) with 3 minutes 17 seconds to go from the 2nd
quarter. Riyadi coach called a time out and 3 substitutions occurred. G.
Reda, J. Vogel & R. Halleat got in while M. Ibrahim, H. Tawbee and A.
Mahmoud got out! FastLink here increased the tempo and made a run by
scoring 10 pts versus only 2 pts for Riyadi via free throw shots for I.
Ahmad in the remaining time of the 2nd quarter. As a result, the second
quarter ended with the Lebanese team only ahead by 6 pts (41-35)!
The third quarter kicked in! FastLink knew that if they want to get back
and control the game, this is their chance. Both teams were committing
turnovers and with 5 minutes 22 seconds from the end of the 3rd quarter,
the score was still (45-41) for Riyadi - a sign of a weak offense by
both teams in these 5 minutes. Vogel was back to the game instead of
Tawbee and Thurman was still scoring from everywhere while Riyadi were
committing their 4th turnover in the quarter forcing coach Abo Chakra to
call for the timeout with the score being (45-43) for Riyadi. After the
timeout, Deeass scored for FastLink to tie the game at (45-45) then at
(47-47) also by Deeass after 2 pts for I. Ahmad. Madison got 3 free
throw shots and scored the 3 of them after being fouled while shooting
from behind the arc, but Sam Doughlas scored a quick 2. A. Mahmoud
making the "walking" was the 6th turnover for Riyadi in 3rd the quarter.
Vogel was again out of the game and Tawbee was sent back in. Thurman
scored again for FastLink to give his team the lead (51-50) while Riyadi
were still committing turnovers right and left as the 7th turnover in
the 3rd quarter took place followed by the 8th before Tawbee scored 2
pts for his team after an offensive rebound to end the 3rd quarter with
FastLink ahead by 3 pts (55-52) after a 3 pt for Thurman and a FT shot
for Ontario!
The fourth quarter was the last chance for both teams! Both teams were
sinking their baskets and with 7 minutes to go of the game, the score
was (63-62) for FastLink. Thurman added another 3pt but Ghaleb Reda
answered back with a big 3. Thurman tried to reply to Reda's 3 but he
failed to do so and consequently Vogel grabbed the defensive rebound
while I. Ahmad on the other side scored 2 pts and snatched the foul to
score his FT shot and re-give Riyadi the lead by 2 pts (68-66).
FastLink players had no intention of surrendering as Enver scored
another 3 pts to move the lead again for the Jordanian side (69-68).
However, Riyadi players knew better than loosing the long-waited cup in
the last game and like usual the experience factor kicked in. I. Ahmad
got Riyadi back to the lead by a 3 pt shot with 2 pts margin (71-69)
then 4 pts (73-69) with a basket for Vogel after an offensive rebound.
With 4 minutes and 32 seconds from the time of the game, Madison
couldn't choose a better time to score from behind the arc. I. Ahmad
scored another 2 to increase the gap to 9 points (78-69). Ontario scored
1 out of 2 free throws after a foul on Vogel and the score was (78-70)
for the yellows. Thurman scored again and so did Deeass and the margin
was again 4 pts only (78-74) for Riyadi.
1 minute 30 seconds were left and Abo Chakra called the time out. Vogel
lost his lances and had to go out of the game and Mohamad Ibrahim got in
instead. Ghaleb Reda missed his shot but Ibrahim got a hold of the
offensive rebound among all FastLink centers. Ibrahim passed the ball to
Madison who got the 5th foul from Enver. Madison didn't fail to score
both FTs and with 54.4 seconds to go, Riyadi were in lead by 6 pts
(80-74). Ontario had 2 FTs with only 43 seconds to go and he missed
both! While Madison on the other hand scored another 2 FTs with 37
seconds to go and the score became (82-74) for the Lebanese team. Scotty
scored 3 pts (2 pts + FT) to reduce the gap to 5 pts (82-77) and
FastLink players committed the foul on Ali Mahmoud with only 29 seconds
to go. Ali Mahmoud with an 80% from the FT line in the tournament didn't
fail to score both and make the gap 7 pts again (84-77). Scotty added
another 2 pts but FastLink players committed an unsportsman-like foul on
Madison who scored both FTs and got the possession. With 17 seconds to
go, another foul was made on Tony. Tony scored 1 out of the 2 but it was
more than enough to bring his team to the victorious end ss the game was
over despite of Doughlas' 3pt to end the game with a 5 pts win for the
Lebanese Riyadi with a final score of (87-82) and the cup of the 18th
Pan Arab Championship was handed to Al Riyadi for the first time in
history!
Statistics from the game
Antonio Madison (197-G-71, agency:
China-Hoop, college:
New Orleans): 33 pts - 4 rebs - 2 ass
Ismail Ahmad: 24 pts - 8 rebs - 3 ass - 1 BS
Ali Mahmoud: 12 pts - 3 rebs - 4 ass - 2 steals
Joe Vogel: 7 pts - 7 rebs - 1 ass
Ghaleb Reda: 7 pts - 3 rebs - 1 ass - 1 steal
Hussein Tawbee: 2 pts - 5 rebs
Mohamad Ibrahim: 0 pts - 3 rebs - 1 ass - 1 steal
Richard Halleet: 1 steal
Statistics of Al Riyadi in the Pan Arab tournament the 18th:
Team
Scored: 820 pts
Rebounds: 289
Assists: 82
BS: 29
Players:
Antonio Madison (197-G-71, agency:
China-Hoop, college:
New Orleans) (MVP of the Arabs): 227 pts - 31 rebs
Ismail Ahmad: 192 pts - 89 rebs
Ghaleb Reda: 122 pts - 29 rebs - 16 ass - 11 steals
Ali Mahmoud: 88 pts - 30 rebs - 16 steals
Joe Vogel: 83 pts - 60 rebs
Coach Fouad Abou Chakra: Best Coach in the Arab World
The Champions's arrival to Beirut
The Arab Champion Al-Riyadi will be arriving at the martyr Rafik
El-Hariri airport at 2 pm on Saturday May 28th. The team will be
celebrating with the fans in the airport and then will head to Kuraytem
to offer the 6 cups the team has won this season to Sheikh Saad El-Deen
El-Hariri. The team will then head back to the club in Manara to
celebrate with the fans - BE THERE!
Riyadi to the final of the Pan Arab tournament for the 1st time in
history by nailing Jazira 112-99 - May. 25, 2005 - by Mhammad Kbar
For the first time in its history, Al-Riyadi qualified to the finals of
the 18th Pan Arab championship to face Fast Link from Jordan this
Thursday at 6.15 pm Beirut time. This qualification is the reults of a
deserved win over the 3-times Arab-Champion Al-Jazeera-Egypt, in the
semi final; the second win for Riyadi over Jazeera in this tournament.
Al-Riyadi coming from a loss in the previous round against Fastlink-Jordan
after 62 consecutive wins started the game with no aim but to come out
at the end victorious!
The Lebanese Champions started the game fully concentrated and ready to
go. Al Jazira opened the score sheet with 2 points, but Ghaleb Reda,
last game’s best scorer with 35 pts, sunk a 3 pointer to announce the
return of the angry giant!
Antonio Madison (197-G-71, agency:
China-Hoop, college:
New Orleans)’s 3-pointer followed by 2 pts for Vogel after an offensive
rebound and 4 consecutive points for Ismail Ahmad were more than enough
to give Riyadi a 10 points lead (12-2) in no time!
Jazeera's coach called the time out as the game was quickly slipping out
of his hands! The time out resulted in 2 points for the Egyptian team
through free-throw shots for Wael Bader. However, Ismail Ahmad scored
his 5th & 6th personal points of the game and the 13th & 14th for Riyadi
also via free-throw shots to keep the difference at 10 points, this time
with a score of (14-4). Wael Bader was the only player scoring from the
Egyptian side and his 3-pt shot reduced the gap to 7 points but Madison
was there again to score and re-extend the gap to 9 pts. Jazeera scored
again from 3 pts but
Antonio Madison (197-G-71, agency:
China-Hoop, college:
New Orleans) had his reply ready with his 2nd 3-pt of the game! At this
moment, Vogel committed his 2nd foul of the game and coach Fouad Abou
Chakra quickly pulled him out and replaced him with Hussien Tawbee! Ali
Mahmoud was as well substituted; Mohamad Ibrahim came in instead to
avoid the mis-match on Mahmoud. With the 1st quarter coming to its end,
Antonio Madison (197-G-71, agency:
China-Hoop, college:
New Orleans) scored again from behind the arc but Wael Bader was there
again to reply. The first quarter ended with 2 pts for Hussien Tawbee on
the buzzer after a personal offensive rebound to end the 1st quarter
yellow by 3 pts (30-27)!
With the start of the 2nd quarter, both teams were scoring equally with
a slight advantage for the yellow team! However the foul trouble on
Riyadi players had a major influence on the way they applied their
defense. By the mid of the 2nd quarter Joe Vogel,
Antonio Madison (197-G-71, agency:
China-Hoop, college:
New Orleans) & Ismail Ahmad had 3 fouls each! Ali Fakhrdeen replaced
Ahmad, Hussien Tawbee replaced Vogel while Madison remained
un-substituted! At this moment, Ghaleb Reda was increasing his tempo of
the game and started scoring from everywhere and in every way! With 4
minutes to half time, Riyadi were leading (46-40) then (49-40) before
switching to zone defense instead of man-to-man! With I. Ahmad and A.
Mahmoud back to the court and G. Reda still rolling, the gap was
increasing. The score became (53-43) then (55-43) after another basket
for Reda of the many he scored. Ahmad added 2 points from the free throw
line followed by 2 pts for Reda before the latter gave the first a
beautiful assist to score from it and end the 2nd quarter of the game
Lebanese by 15 pts (61-46)!
Before the start of the 3rd quarter Madison & Reda had 21 pts & 18 pts
respectively. This scoring habit continued in the 3rd quarter especially
with Reda who started this quarter with a quick 2 followed by a quick 3.
Tawbee & Ibrahim also contributed on offense and had their share of
points! With Tawbee, Ibrahim & Madison scoring each 2 pts consecutively
Riyadi were still maintaining the lead. Reda continued his big night and
added another 2 pts, followed by 2 pts for Tawbee after an assist from
the one and only Ghaleb Reda who himself added another 3 pt! By that
time, the margin was 17 pts (78-61) and Ahmad was following his
team-mate path and scored a 3-pt himself but that game was Reda's game
who added another big 3-pt shot to give his team a 20 pts lead! With the
end of the 3rd quarter, Riyadi Brave Heart Ghaleb Reda had 30 pts and
his team was leading by 17 (85-68)!
The final quarter started and it was time for experience to play its
role. Like usual "The King"
Antonio Madison (197-G-71, agency:
China-Hoop, college:
New Orleans) kicked in! Al-Jazeera were committing many fouls and
Madison who didn't fail to score all his free throws. Vogel & Ibrahim
were also scoring from behind the arc while Ahmad was dominating the
rebounds. Another offensive rebound to Ahmad followed by a successful
shot - a repeated scene in the game more than once.
Riyadi were still in the lead with 16 pts (97-81) as Hussien Tawbee was
fouled out from the game with 5 minutes 49 seconds to the end. Madison
was still in control of the last quarter and another 3 pt was added to
his tally as the score was (103-89) for the Lebanese team. Ismail Ahmad
added another assist to make the 1st triple-double of the tournament
however the margin was reduced to 10 pts (105-95) before Madison scored
again from the free throw line and again to consequently lead his team
to a 13 pts win (112-99) against the 3-times Arab Champion Al Jazira,
and therefore qualified to the finals of the 18th Pan Arab tournament to
face FastLink-Jordan in the finals of the tournament on Thursday, May
27, 2005 at 6:15 pm Beirut time!
Statistics from the game:
Antonio Madison (197-G-71, agency:
China-Hoop, college:
New Orleans): 35 pts - 2 rebs - 4 ass - 2 steals - 6 3pts
Ghaleb Reda: 31 pts - 5 rebs - 5 ass - 2 steals - 4 3pts
Ismail Ahmad: 18 pts - 13 rebs - 10 ass - 1 steal - 1 3pt
Joesph Vogel: 9 pts - 5 rebs - 1 3pt
Hussien Tawbe: 8 pts - 4 rebs - 1 steal
Moe Ibrahim: 7 pts - 2 rebs - 4 ass - 1 3 pt
Ali Mahmoud: 4 pts - 4 rebs - 4 ass - 1 steal
Ali Fakhrdeen: 1 reb
Richard Halleat: ---
