Hekmeh BC

This article is about the club's basketball programme. For general club information for all sports, see Hekmeh. For football (soccer) programme, see Hekmeh FC.
Sagesse Club - Basketball team
نادي الحكمة - فريق كرة السلة
Leagues Lebanese Basketball League (Pepsi FLB League): Div.1
Founded 1992
History C.S. Sagesse-Basketball
1992-present
Arena Ghazir Stadium [1]
(capacity: 5,000)
Location Ashrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
Team colors Green, White
         
President Lebanon Maroun Ghaleb
Team manager Lebanon Fouad Abou Chacra
Head coach Lebanon Fouad Abou Chacra
Team captain Lebanon Rodrigue Akl
Championships 8 Lebanese Championships
3 FIBA Asia Champions Cups
3 West Asian Championships
2 Arab Club Championships
Website http://www.sagesse-club.com/
Uniforms
Home
Away

Hekmeh or Al-Hikma or Club Sagesse (Arabic: الحكمة‎; also known as Club Sportif La Sagesse) is a Lebanese sports club based in Beirut. The basketball programme was established in 1992, as part of the historic Hekmeh club established in 1943 with mainly football (soccer) programme. The basketball team became far more popular than the initial football team, due to its phenomenal record breaking success since its formation in the early nineties in the newly reformed Lebanese league, the Arab and the FIBA Asian championships.

History

Al-Hikma in classical Arabic, El-Hekmeh in Lebanese dialect stands for "wisdom", thus also the French alternative name of the club, Sagesse (meaning wisdom in French).

The historical Hekmeh club was founded in 1943 under the patronage of the late father Boulos Kik, supported by his excellency late Mgr. Jean Maroun ,with affiliation to the Collège de la Sagesse of the Maronite Catholic Church a leading educational institution in Lebanon and the East since 1874. The basketball program was founded in 1992.

In 1992 the club was financed by media tycoon also dubbed as the Godfather of Lebanese basketball, president Antoine Choueiri, he wanted a team that will achieve unprecedented success and popularity in a bid to change lebanese sports history forever and unite all lebanese behind a successful team that will represent Lebanon and lebanese basketball in every possible competition on a national and international level.[2][3]

After the Choueiri takeover in 1992 Hekmeh/Sagesse included on its roster some of the most impactful player names including Lebanese national basketball team legends Elie Mechantaf and Fadi El Khatib ,notable foreigners that at the time were among the elite of foreign basketball players in Asia including ex-NBA players and FIBA world cup participants a high level of players that was never seen before in the Lebanese league and the neighbouring countries and under the management of the most decorated national basketball coach Ghassan Sarkis, a dominant dream team was born taking Lebanese Basketball to new heights ,achieving the goals that were set by Choueiri.[4]

Sagesse became one of the most successful Lebanese basketball clubs with 8 Lebanese Basketball League Championships, 7 Lebanese Basketball Cups, 2 Arab Club Championships, and 3 FIBA Asia Champions Cup titles.. Hekmeh made history as well by being the first Lebanese club to win the Arab Club Championship [5] and the first Lebanese and first Arab club to win the FIBA Asia Champions Cup.[6]

Also, Sagesse is the only Arab and only Asian club to ever participate in the basketball club world championship the McDonald's Championship organized by FIBA and the NBA , it was in the 1999 edition when Sagesse went as the Champion of Asia. The 1999 McDonald's Championship was the first and only time FIBA Asia was represented in the tournament.[7][8]

This exceptional participation and the way Sagesse represented Asia at the Mcdonald's Championship in Milano was praised by then Commissioner of the NBA David Stern and by former Secretary General of the FIBA Borislav Stanković among other officials.[9]

Honours[10][11][12]

Lebanese Basketball League
Lebanese Basketball Cup
Arab Club Championship
FIBA Asia Champions Cup
WABA Champions Cup
International tournaments
Special Awards

(Awarded by FIBA Asia known as the Asian Basketball Confederation back then for the first time in 1999 with Sagesse Club as the inaugural winner.)[16]

Squad

Sagesse roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht.
F 5 Lebanon Ammoury, Bachir 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
F/C 7 Nigeria Ibekwe, Ekene 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)
G/F 8 Lebanon Rustom, Elie 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
C 10 Lebanon Samaha, Roy 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)
PG 11 Lebanon Akl, Rodrigue (C) 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
SG 12 United States Stoglin, Terrell 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
F 24 Lebanon Gyokchyan, Hayk 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)
SG 33 Lebanon Khoury, Sabah 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
SG 37 Lebanon Ghattas, Joe 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
SG 21 United States Bolds, Demarius 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
F/C 14 Lebanon Bou Dagher, Robert 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)
Head coach
  • Lebanon Fouad Abou Chakra
Assistant coach(es)
  • Lebanon Tigran Gyokchyan
  • Lebanon Koko Krikorian
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured

Notable persons

Club Presidents

Notable coaches

Notable players

Lebanese

^NBA legend Rony Seikaly was included in the Sagesse club roster for the 1999 Asian Cup however he was unable to play for the team due to physical and technical issues.[17]

International

See also

References

  1. ↑ "History". SAGESSE - AL HEKMEH BEIRUT basketball team (Lebanon-Div.A). Asia-Basket. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqhLP5zEMDo Documentary about Antoine Choueiri including a part about his vision , plans and success for Sagesse and Lebanese basketball
  3. ↑ http://www.foxsportspulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-3223-0-0-0&sID=31915&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=11527079
  4. ↑ http://sports-961.com/lebanese-basketball-much-antoine-chouairy-invested-building-sagesse-glory/
  5. ↑ http://daharchives.alhayat.com/issue_archive/Wasat%20magazine/1998/4/13/الحكمة-بطل-الأندية-العربية-لكرة-السلة-لبنان-يرتدي-اللون-الأخضر.html
  6. ↑ http://daharchives.alhayat.com/issue_archive/Wasat%20magazine/1999/6/7/أول-ناد-عربي-يحرز-اللقب-الحكمة-اللبناني-على-قمة-آسيا-في-كرة-السلة.html
  7. ↑ http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/cl/training/p/nid/41162/article.html
  8. ↑ http://www.annahar.com/archive/172689-فريق-الحكمة-اليوم-الى-ميلانو-أول-ممثل-لآسيا-في-بطولة-القارات
  9. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBCEnlU7tZ4 Video showing Mr.Choueiri at a TV show with the team and staff and Tom McCarthy, chief executive of ABC (Fiba Asia) Promotions, Ltd. just after the 1999 Mcdonald's world championship saying what Mr.Stern and Mr.Stankovic said about Sagesse
  10. ↑ http://www.sports-leb.com/2011/02/04/125065/(Arabic)
  11. ↑ http://sports.lebanese-forces.com/sports/MoreNews.aspx?newsid=125065 (Arabic)
  12. ↑ http://www.startimes.com/f.aspx?t=29234426 (Arabic)
  13. ↑ http://www.fiba.com/news/petrochimi-al-riyadi-advance-to-fiba-asia-champions-cup check last paragraph
  14. ↑ http://www.nba.com/global/games2013/all-time-international-game-list-printable.html
  15. ↑ http://www.nba.com/events/mcdonalds_championship.html
  16. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXsS3goQ2GE Video showing the handing of the award to the club.
  17. ↑ http://www.arabasket.com/2014/09/27/a-pic-for-rony-seikaly-with-sag/

External links

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