Jordan isn’t sweating on the daunting group that they are within to start the Group Phase of the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
If anything, they are even more thrilled to encounter the powerhouse nations that are about to collide with them with the global event set to start tomorrow.
“It’s really an exciting group for us. We know how hard it is. We know the three teams that we have (to face which are) top-level teams,” Jordan national basketball team’s head coach Wesam Al-Sous said during his team’s introductory press conference.
“But it’s exciting for us, exciting for our players. We’re motivated, we want to prove something. We’re not here just to have fun and play around, (but) we’re here to take care of business, to give a good games, and to show people that Jordan have an advanced basketball that we can play at that level – that we belong to the top teams.”
The Jordanians are about to meet the heavyweights from the international basketball scene – New Zealand, Greece, and tournament favorites in the United States. As it is, the impending competition is truly challenging for the nation that is just about to enjoy its third World Cup appearance in program history.
By any means, they are not dwelling much on being obsessed already in plotting their game plan for each of their opponents.
“Our mentality is to play game by game,” Al-Sous pointed out. “All of our focus at the moment is on Greece on that first game. (We want) to show something in that game, try to gain confidence, try to give a tough game to our opponent. We know how hard and high-level they are, and after that we shift our focus to New Zealand and to U.S.A.”
Thankfully enough, Jordan got a solid enforcer to rely on against their towering challenges in Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
Hollis-Jefferson, a defensive specialist and a six-year NBA pro, was called up by Jordan late in July to become their very own naturalized player in their entry to the World Cup.
One of the key stops of the journeyman’s career was being in the Philippines wherein he played in the Philippine Basketball Association and led TNT Tropang Giga to the league’s Governor’s Cup crown this year. As Hollis-Jefferson already has plenty of Filipino fans around the country, the Jordan squad is looking forward to obtaining ample support from the basketball-crazed nation.
“We’re really excited to have Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson). He is really an excellent player and an excellent person. We’re expecting him to give us the last two months (of grind) and doing the preparations, to give us good games to be competitive,” Al-Sous said.
“We are hopeful we are gaining some Filipino fans. We know how much the Filipino fans like him, so that’s an addition that we’re looking forward to.”
