JEDDAH, 9 March 2007 — Handsome and tall at 6-foot-6, Al-Ittihad’s star basketball player Ali Taha Al-Maghrabi loves the crowd and plays to please them. And hey, he is not the snobbish type like what many perceived him to be.
According to Maghrabi one valuable lesson he learned from former coach Ali Al-Sarhan (now coach of Qadisiya) and would like to impart to budding young athletes is that “being snobbish is the end of the road for any athlete” or put it another way “ the road to the athlete’s grave.”
“I like to mind my own business, maybe that is why some believe I am snobbish but I am not, I am against it, and thank God those who know me well knows that,” Al-Maghrabi told Arab News in a wide-ranging interview.
Born on May 1, 1975, Al-Maghrabi’s height was a natural in his decision to make basketball his sport of choice. In the beginning he explains, “It was all as a challenging competition to me.” At the age of 19, one of his friends who played handball, Saad Al-Ghamdi, kept egging him on to join Al-Ittihad basketball club due to his height. “I was like any typical Saudi boy interested in football and I did it just to stop him from nagging,” he said.
He was tentative at the prospect especially since he prefers Ahli because of his older brother who was an Ahli fan. When he went to the club he was surprised that shorter and younger players managed to throw the ball into the net, while he could not, and that irritated him.
“I took it personal and I insisted on getting the ball in,” he said. Another challenge was that he had no place on a star-studded team like Ittihad, according to some people. Of course he proved this people wrong.
Al-Maghrabi, 32, enjoys the full support of his extended family — his brother and a sister as well as his 14 other siblings from his father’s side
His rise to the top of basketball ladder was meteoric: He joined the youth team and by the end of the season he was among the first team members. Six months later he was with the national team.
The way he developed fast, “I owe it to my Senegal coach Ses Samba in Ittihad,” said Al-Maghrabi, then to American Randy Hefner and the Japanese coach Jopen Court known as ‘Jo’ of the national team.
A natural shooter, Al-Maghrabi is deadly from beyond the arc and under the basket.
He said playing against basketball-crazy Filipinos in Inter-Company leagues was part of his experience. “They are fast and I learned from them, yet I was taller and made good use of that,” he said. He also played for Kuwait club Al-Kuwaiti for three months in the 2004 league and helped them win the Gulf Cup for clubs for their first time and also played on-loan with Saudi club Ohud.
Of his Saudi League for Youth debut in 1993, Al-Maghrabi said, “It was against Ahli but I played my best and Ittihad won by 20 points, and I the top scorer with 15 points.” “I will never forget it!” he added.
Mansour Al-Balawi, president of Al-Ittihad Club helped promote the game immensely, and we owe it to him, he said. One of the best things he gained at Ittihad was having a good friend like Adil Al-Jihani for the past 11 years at the club and at the national team. “When winning it never mattered to us who would receive the cup, the victory was always for all,” he said.
Al-Maghrabi studied business administration at King Abdulaziz University and is now a basketball trainer at National Security Forces. He is married with two daughters, Noorah, 5, and Layan, 2, who are both showing early signs of interest in basketball. Getting married at the age of 26 was tough and he admits his wife suffered. He missed spending some fair quality time with his family. However, he made up for lost time when after being sidelined for six months due to injury a few years ago. It afforded him the time to relax at home and bond with his children.
At one time Al-Maghrabi brought his older daughter to a final match of his. “The girl was totally shocked at the stadium, but when she got back home she was singing Ittihad cheering songs Yakulak (will eat you) for days,” he said laughing. They won that day.
He will be out of action for three weeks after undergoing surgery after breaking his nose recently during the Saudi League.
“The Ittihad Tigers’ fans are the best,” he said. Usually from 5,000 to 8,000 spectators fill the stadiums to the rafters. Especially here in Jeddah the Tiger fans may roar when their team wins, “but even once when we lost, they clapped for us. That was amazing!” he said.
Of the many fond memories Al-Maghrabi had with Ittihad the league match with Ohud in 2003 was particularly special.
Down by 17 points with defeat staring Ittihad in the face, Al-Maghrabi rallied his team almost singlehandedly and made the winning basket 81-80.
“At that point I was scoring the last goal up in the air and as I got to the ground and fans were cheering and roaring I swear I felt like there was electricity in my feet, my hair stood up,” he said. “We just love the fans and do not want to let them down, that’s why for the past 12 years we at least give them two titles per year if not more,” he added.
Basketball is a sophisticated game that requires skills, and endurance unlike football. To prove that, he challenged one of his footballer friends to play basketball. “After few minutes the guy was out throwing up, he could not bear it. And I won the debate,” he said.
He also challenged his friend Haytham Hefni, who got him into playing volleyball and trains everyday, to a race at Durrat Al-Arous from the hotel to the gate. Al-Maghrabi finished the race and got back home, stretched for a while then Al-Hefni showed up exhausted.
Al-Maghrabi picks rising young players Jabir Al-Kaabi and Ayman Al-Madani as the future stars of Saudi basketball.
Al-Maghrabi helped Ittihad win four titles in the youth team in addition to 35 championships in the first division squad. He won MVP plums four times in the Saudi League. His team placed first also at the Arab Military Championships in Lebanon in 2000, and in Riyadh in 2002 when he was the tournament top scorer.
With the national team, Al-Maghrabi won first place in Gulf Championship (for youth) in Doha in 1994 and Arab Championship in Beirut in 1997. The Saudi national team placed third in Under-22 Asian Championship in 1996. He was named to the mythical five selection in this tournament. The Saudis again placed third again in the Asian Championship in 1999, where he was named MVP.
In 2002 in Riyadh Saudi Arabia were the champions in the Gulf Championship, and in Dammam in 2004. He won best player award again in Jeddah in the Arab Championship in 2003 and won the title with his team. The Saudi team placed second in the Gulf Championship in Doha in 2006 as well as in 2002 when it was held in UAE.
His future plan now is to open a basketball academy in Jeddah where more people can join and play.
Though he assures he is Ittihadi and would not leave his club no matter what, he wishes the rules be relaxed in future for the benefit of players who may want to be released and sign for other teams in a free transfer market. Under the present setup, a player can play for any team that took interest in him other than his mother club for a season or two on loan basis after which he has to rejoin his original team.
The free transfer market is good for the new blood entering the clubs financially because, “many would depend on it as their profession,” he said. It would also benefit both the players and the clubs, he added.
