Showing posts with label african basketball. Show all posts
CIV Sports Minister to National Team: ''Cup or Nothing!''
As preparations for the 2013 AfroBasket intensifies and the date draws closer, the demand on the various competing team to come up tops is also increasing by the day. This year's competition to be hosted at the Palais des Sportes in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire promises to be a very exciting one. African basketball powerhouses such as Angola, Cameroon, Egypt, Senegal, Tunisia and Nigeria will all be present with some of them inviting foreign based players to enhance and increase their teams chances, the biggest star possibly being Cameroonian NBA player, LucRichard Mbah a Moute now with the Sacramento Kings. |
| Minister Alain Lobognon |
Amidst all
this, the Ivorian minister for Promotion of Youth, Sports and Recreation, Alain Lobognon has issued a ultimatum to their national team; The Elephants that read:
''AFROBASKET 2013 - ELEPHANTS BASKETBALL, THE CUP OR NOTHING!
This message is to the Elephants
basketball players currently preparing in Spain. According to information
reaching me, the guys are not ready yet (I'm waiting for better news). I
do not expect anything other than the win during the Afrobasket2013 that will
be played on our land from 20th to 31st August 2013. My message remains...
The Cup or the confiscation of passports. So know that you have been warned.
Just be sure to win... Good evening!
(NB: Do not say
that you will try to win.)''
What Are We Not Doing Right?
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| Angola's bench looking dejected during their loss against Turkey at the 2012 London Olympics |
As exciting as it is to see African teams go on such trips, it cannot be denied that performance by teams over the decades is nothing to be excited about. The best performance by an African team at an international event was when Egypt finished 5th in the first ever FIBA World Cup in 1950. The most recent international competition that featured teams from Africa is the just ended FIBA U19 World Championship in Prague, Czech Republic. Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire represented the continent in Prague after dominating the African Championships in 2012 only to finish at the bottom of the table, both often losing games by as much 30 points.
These perennial losing streaks should have us thinking by now. If basketball has been played for as many decades on the continent as it has in other places, why are our teams still losing by this much and performing poorly at these events? Players, coaches, and national federations have to sit up and figure out a future out of this endless cycle of losing. What do you think we are not doing properly?
What's FIBA Africa Doing About 3x3?
FIBA 3x3 has been in existence since 2007. It was launched and a trial tournament was played in the same year at the Asian Indoor Games in Macau. Two years later, it was introduced internationally at the 2009 Asian Youth Games in Singapore.
Over the years, all FIBA zones have had 3x3 events which have drawn lots of fans to the game because of its appeal to the ordinary playground baller. Last year(2012) was probably the most successful year in 3x3 history, having seen the launch of the 3x3 World Tour that went to six different cities across the globe with the finals played in Miami between 21st and 23rd September. The 3x3 World Championships event that featured separate competitions for men's, women's and mixed national teams tourney was also hosted by Greece in August; Spain also hosted the U18 World Championships in August.
Evidently, these events have helped to increase the popularity of the game of basketball worldwide and more so in the host and participating countries. Africa basketball can and must benefit form this simple, beautiful and easily attainable FIBA initiative too. It's been six years since the launch of 3x3 by FIBA and not much of it has been seen on the African continent apart from a few isolated events organized by individual basketball organizations, an example being the Central Recreational Basketball League organized in Accra by DC Dynamics and ReboundGH with the help of several volunteers in October and November last year. Check out more photos from the CRBL here.
FIBA Africa has not hosted any 3x3 events so far and there are no signs of them hosting any soon. This, definitely is not good for the development of the discipline and the game as a whole on the continent. FIBA Africa's administration and management has never been under much scrutiny from its member countries. In my opinion, it's time for the African basketball family to demand more from their offices not only concerning 3x3 but the development of the game on the continent as a whole.
Primeiro de Agosto are Africa Champs!!!
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| Morais with his trophies |
Carlos Morais of Petro was MVP, leading the tournament in scoring with a 21.4ppg and also leading the tournament in 3 pointers made with a total of 30 while Tarek El-Ghanem (Al-Ahly) led in rebounds with 10 per game.
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