ReboundGH

As Ghana preapares to play in her first ever game in an African men's tourney today, there's no denying that two of the members  of the team that went to the qualifiers in Abidjan will be missed. Former head coach Daniel Sesu and PG, El Alawa Tundey's contributions to the team before and during the Abidjan trip cannot be overlooked.

The two who had to leave the team under different circumstances, surely do still have some bad tastes in their mouths concerning the leadership of the GBBA.

However, though some might have questioned Sesu's methods as a coach, his ability to keep the team united, build passion and heighten morale cannot be put to the back-burner. Abilities he put on display during training camp and exhibition games before Abidjan. Team captain Abdulmutalib confessed in a chat, ''I wish coach was around, it would have just been nice''. El Alawa's speed and aggressiveness will be missed too. He's absence will create a lot of problems for Ghana at the PG spot. Cyril Bansah who will be playing a lot of the PG time is not as versatile as Tundey is but can certainly hold his ground any day, like he does when he features for Tema Youth.

Team Ghana will be leaving town today for Maputo, Mozambique to participate in the 18th edition of the AfroBasket U18 tournament. The competition has served as the stage on which many young African players, notably Hakeem Olajuwon and recently Serge Ibaka caught the attention of the world. As much as it's a youth event, the competition level is not for the faint-hearted and ill-prepared.

Considering the chronicles that have unfolded within these past few weeks of preparation for our team, Ghana could easily be classified into the ill-prepared category. The technical director himself has said on occasion that it would be unrealistic to talk about or expect any great outcome from this trip.

However, we need to be there; for the learning experience. A statement not many people will agree with but we still need to be there for that exact reason. We may talk of competing several times in zone three and having a GBBA technical director who has had quite an experience working with FIBA Africa as a game official during continental events. Talk could also be made  of the national seniors women's trip to Mali for the AfroBasket women's championship in December 2011.Their performance there is certainly not something we would like this young team to replicate. But with all these, we've never had a men's team compete at the African level and nothing beats the experience of being there.

Whether or no this team ends up on the podium, Ghana should be a better basketball country after this trip. The national association should be a better organized institution after this by all means necessary otherwise we would have only done ourselves, fans and sponsors a disservice. Nothing will be more painful than tasting continental competition for once and knowing how exciting it can get and the benefits it can reap for young people then slamming back into our old ways and into another long down time.

It lies on all of us  and most importantly the GBBA staff that will travel along this team to learn and be ready to implement what we learn. It's never an easy task; but it lies on us!

follow the writer on twitter @ofoli_kwei

The team that represented Ghana in Abidjan has changed in many ways. First was the coaching staff that was hit with the quitting of the head coach, Daniel Sesu who with the help of Edmundo and Seth Okine had built the boys into a fine team. Stories abound as to what was the cause of his decision to quit. It has been mainly alleged that a misunderstanding between him and the technical director of the GBBA, Iddrisu Gamel played a vital role in his decision. Assistant coach of the Braves, Seth Okine was appointed to fill the vacancy with the shortest of notices that one could imagine. His workings with the team has been difficult. He has sited the short time span available for preparation as his main hurdle, which has made it difficult to implement much of his own tactics, and have caused him to continue with Sesu's systems.

The playing body was not left out of the ''quitting/MIA'' party. Tundey El Alawa and Julian Morgan will not be available for the Maputo trip. I think El Alawa's absence will give this Ghanaian team problems at the PG spot. His ability to attack defenses and take lanes will be missed. His role was vital even though he came from the bench as a backup. No one can forget his 12 point explosion in under 6 minutes in Ghana's second match against Liberia during the qualifiers in Abidjan. With the absence of Tundey and Morgan, Jibril Musa was chosen to fill one of the spots. As much as there could be talk of the non availability of a large pool of talent to choose from, pin pointing what Jibril brings to the team is a hard task even for me, who has seen him develop as a player.

Another problem facing this team is injuries. Suleman Abubakar(Big Time) has not been fully involved in practice for a couple of days because of a knee injury. Steven Foster Gadu, one of the teams best rebound grabbers also sprained his ankle over the weekend during a practice game and the captain of the team himself, Abdulmutalib reported into practice this morning with a headache.

Another major problem that faced this team with during preparation was the lack of a residential camp. When kids are commuting for hours on a daily basis to a national team practice, it definitely does raise concerns. The stress of traveling through Accra everyday takes its toll on anybody, not to talk of people who have had to go through several hours of basketball practice outdoors on a concrete court. Coach Okine mentioned this morning, that as a result of the lack of camping, he cannot expect much from these guys even if excuses made for lack of punctuality are not realistic. These guys have already sacrificed so much to get to this level, he added.

I would be ever willing to bet with any person as to whether the sports ministry knows anything about this Maputo trip. The general lack of interest in basketball by the nation's sport leadership is heartbreaking and discouraging for young players and anybody involved with basketball in Ghana. Especially at this time for this group of young men and what they have achieved in the name of and for Ghana. For any kid to go back home from a  national team practice or trip with not even jerseys to prove him being part of the team is just unheard of. The amount of attention and care provided  for other sports makes the effort this team, their coaches and the GBBA put in on a daily basis look like child's play. If for nothing at all this group of young men should be made to feel like the heroes they are.

follow the writer on twitter @ofoli_kwei

The author of two books(Developing Basketball Intelligence & CROSSOVER; The New Model of Youth Basketball Development) and the founder of the Playmakers League, Brian McCormick started assisting with the coaching of the Ghana national U18 basketball team preparing for Maputo 2012. Coach Brian who has been in town for just over a week, was brought in by the Dynasty Basketball Association(DBA) to assist them in running this year's version of their annual summer basketball camp which ended yesterday at the Lincoln Community School, Abelemkpe. 

Permission was given earlier today by the vice president of the GBBA, Mr. Iddrisu Gamel for him to assist now head coach, Seth Okine for the rest of the period he's in Ghana. Both coaches have been open minded and expressed the willingness to work together for this short time to help improve the boys and increase their chances in Maputo.

You can read more about Brain and his work on his website http://learntocoachbasketball.com

The boys made it. From the concrete to the hardwood and made a name for themselves and mother Ghana. They went, they saw, they conquered. They got the wild card from FIBA Africa and are going to Maputo in August.

We can go all day and shower praises and accolades for the great work done by everybody involved in the preparation process; from the players themselves, through to coaches and administrators. But what does this really mean for Ghana Basketball?

Is this going to be a/the turning point for Ghana Basketball? If it is going to be, then a lot of things will have change around us. The national association needs to be better structured. Yes, of course they've organized and ran two coaching courses in the past three years for youth coaches and have in recent times taken a women's senior team through zone 3 qualifiers and to Mali for the AfroBasket women's tourney held in 2011. The above events and the current U18 side's exploits are good things that have been done; but we need to get better and aim at being great at what we do.

But for instance, has the association done any checks on how those youth coaches and their programs (for those who run programs) are doing? Have they provided any help in any form? Be it in equipments or even in keeping those coaches motivated with just visits to their programs?

It might seem that we have  long ay to go but WE can do it!

We can do it. We need to strive for better and look to work together more. Let's forget about differences. We normally like to skip this topic but it's one of the biggest blockades to the development of Ghana Basketball. Sometimes, maybe not sometimes, but all times, we need to work together for the greater good. Let's avoid the personal issues and hold Ghana Basketball in higher respect. We need to realize NOBODY can achieve more than EVERYBODY in this sport we all love.

Majority of the responsibility lies on the national association though. The leadership the association will have to continue to work harder at putting their house in order. To the extent that, the association can be smoothly run by well thought out and laid down charter and a long term development program.

Like the legendary world famous Ghanaian band Osibisa put it in one of their songs, THE TIME IS RIGHT!!

For the first time in over 50 years of existence, a Ghana Basketball Association men's team overcame almost every hurdle in FIBA Africa zone 3 and qualified for the AfroBasket. The national U18 side finished the qualifying tournament played in Abidjan with a 4 - 2 win loss record led by Cyril Clark and Abdul Mutalib. Ghana along side host, Cote d'Ivoire qualified for the 2012 AfroBasket U18 tournament to be held in Maputo, Mozambique from the 16th to 25th August. 

Here's a quick look at the team list (from left to right, top row first)

- DANIEL AYARNA

- ADAMS RIYAZUDEN

- CYRIL CLARKE

- JULIAN MORGAN

- ABDUL MUTALIB A.

- ABUBAKARI SULEMAN

- STEPHEN FOSTER

- CYRIL BANSAH
- MOHAMMED BAJIGAH

- TUNDEY EL-ALAWA

HEAD COACH: DANIEL SESU (in white pants)

Team Ghana got their first win at the U18 AfroBasket qualifying series currently going on in Abidjan. The Ghanaian team beat Liberia with the game ending 55 - 43. This time around, Stephen Foster had a team high 15 points, while Alawa got 12 points in just over 5 minutes of play.This is how the numbers looked like:

A Cyril Clarke led Ghana U18 side lost their first game against host Cote d'Ivoire at the Palais des Sports de Treichville indoor sports facility in Abidjan. Cyril had a game high 16pts and 6rbds while playing all 40 minutes of the game. Daniel Ayarna also had a game high 11 rbds for Ghana in the 33 - 54 loss. http://www.fibaafrica.com had the full story from the venue in their often poorly written English: