Sagesse: Sex Threes Are Not Enough: Lebanese Basketball’s Shooting Crisis Exposed

Three-point shooting is no longer a luxury in modern basketball. It is not a bonus. It is not a “nice addition.” It is a fundamental pillar of the game. And what we witnessed in the Sagesse vs Astana game is a painful reminder of how far Lebanese basketball still is from embracing this reality.

Let’s start with the raw numbers.

Sagesse finished the game with 6 three-pointers made out of 22 attempts.

That is 18 points from beyond the arc out of a total of 102.

Astana, on the other hand, knocked down 19 three-pointers out of 45 attempts.

That is 57 points from three out of their 104 total.

Read that again.

Astana scored 39 more points from three-point range than Sagesse.

You don’t need advanced analytics to understand the story of the game. The difference is right there.

Basketball at the highest level today is a spacing game. Teams stretch the floor, punish help defense, and create driving lanes by forcing opponents to respect shooters. When you cannot shoot, everything becomes harder. Driving becomes crowded. Post-ups become suffocated. Isolation turns into desperation.

Astana had multiple players who were not just willing to shoot, but confident shooting.

Juskevicius Adas: 7/14 from three

Image : FIBA (Juskevicius Adas)

Eric Day: 6/10 from three

Image : FIBA (Eric Day)

These are not miracles. These are not fluke nights. These are players trained in systems where shooting is developed, encouraged, and demanded.

Now look back at Lebanese basketball as a whole.

How many Lebanese players today are truly feared as shooters?

How many local players enter a game with the green light to take 8–10 threes?

How many young players are being developed primarily as shooters?

The honest answer is: very few.

Most Lebanese players grow up learning to “play safe.”

Pass first.

Avoid mistakes.

Don’t take tough shots.

Meanwhile, the modern game rewards the opposite: confidence, volume, and repetition.

This is not just a Sagesse problem.

This is a Lebanese basketball problem.

When teams rely almost exclusively on imports to space the floor, it creates a ceiling. Once those imports are contained, the offense collapses. There is no secondary shooting threat. No local sniper to punish defensive schemes.

You cannot compete internationally in 2025 basketball while making six threes per game.

You cannot survive modern systems without shooting.

You cannot build serious contenders while ignoring this reality.

Development has to change.

Youth programs must prioritize shooting mechanics.

Clubs must allow young players to miss shots without fear.

Coaches must accept short-term inefficiency for long-term growth.

Because what we are seeing now is the result of years of neglect.

Astana did not beat Sagesse with athleticism alone.

They beat them with shot-making.

Until Lebanese basketball treats three-point shooting as a core skill and not an accessory, nights like this will keep repeating themselves.

And no amount of excuses will change that.