A Glimpse into the first window of 2023 FIBA World Cup Qaulifying for the Africa Zone
The first window of the 2023 FIBA World Qualifiers will take place from 26-28 November in the Angolan coastal town of Benguela. For the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which will be hosted by the Asian trio of Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines, the African region will be granted five qualifying spaces. In this regard, the 16 participants for Afrobasket 2021, have been placed in four groups, whereby the top three of each group will make it to the last phase of qualifiers, from which, the final five participants at World Cup 2023 will be known after the last phase of fixtures.
It is safe to say, basketball is alive and well on the continent. The launch of the Basketball Africa League’s (BAL) in May 2021, successfully showcased some of Africa’s best talents and set a standard which was subsequently built upon during Afrobasket 2021. Although continental powerhouse Tunisia managed to win its second straight title and its third in a decade, the level of competition revealed a marked improvement in the quality of play as well as a decrease in the talent gap existing between various countries. Novices such as Guinea, South Sudan, Kenya and Uganda amongst others, demonstrated that they are ready to take up space in the African international basketball landscape, while countries like Côte d’Ivoire and Cape Verde, who finished second and fourth respectively, demonstrated they can also roll with the best. Having outlined the current state of affairs of basketball in Africa, one can get the impression, the upcoming qualifiers will be treat for African basketball lovers, near and beyond.
Group A: Nigeria, Cape Verde, Uganda and Mali
Nigeria: The D’Tigers have experienced highs, lows and the rock bottom over the last few months. Their victory over the United States in friendly match before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, put a team which had asserted itself over the previous 10-15 years as a continental powerhouse, on global watch. However, a disappointing Olympic outing, which saw Nigeria lose all three games, was followed by accusations levelled by players against the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF), accusing the institution of poor organization in the lead up to the Olympics. This was followed by what one could describe as a “shambolic” preparation for Afrobasket 2021, which saw a quickly put together Nigerian squa, eliminated by an upstart Ugandan side in the qualifying fixture for the quarterfinals. Nigeria finished 12th in the tournament, their worst ever performance at Afrobasket.
Sometimes when the going gets bad, you turn to familiar faces and tactics, to remedy the situation and this is the approach Nigeria has adopted for this first window of qualifiers. The squad which will travel to Benguela features 38 year old Ike Diogu. Diogu, a former NBA veteran who currently plays for Chemidor B.C in Iran, was shockingly left of the Olympic squad in July. In retrospective, his omission was a mistake, as his veteran experience could have helped the younger Nigerian players navigate the close games they lost against Germany and Italy. Nevertheless, Diogu will aim to lead the Tigers to victory and show he still has a lot to prove for the national team. He will be joined by fellow D’Tiger stalwarts, Ike Ireogbu, who plays for Hapoel Galil Elyon in Israel and Ben Uzoh, who is currently signed with Cape Town Tigers in South Africa, who are vying for a spot in BAL 2022. Julius Nwosu, a former Nigerian international, who played for the San Antonio Spurs and for the Nigerian national side at the 1998 and 2006 FIBA World Championships, will coach the D’Tigers, replacing former NBA coach of the year Mike Brown and Alex Nwora. Nwosu will revel at the new chance and hopefully he was able to get tips from his former teammate and current Boston Celtics coach, Ime Udoka.
Cape Verde: The Cape Verdian side was one of the revelations of Afrobasket 2021, knocking off tournament contenders Angola and hosts Angola on the way to finishing a respectable fourth place. Things might be a bit different this time around though, as the team’s talisman, Real Madrid BC centre, Walter Tavares, will not be available for this qualifying window. Tavares, who averaged an eye opening 16.8 ppg, 14.2 rbds and 4 bpg, rightfully earned a spot on the Afrobasket 2021 All Star team. Nevertheless, Cape Verde still has quality players who can step up this round and palliate Tavares absence, notably, Ivan and Joel Almeida, who will provide a good proportion of the scoring, while Jeff Xavier who provided 6.7 apg, will be the teams key distributor.
Uganda: The Silverbacks were another pleasant surprise at Afrobasket 2021. Finishing an impressive sixth place at the tournament, Uganda managed to defeat more fancied sides including Cameroon and Nigeria during their Rwandan escapade. However, the Silverbacks face the same quagmire as the Cape Verdians, which is the absence of their best players. Ish Wainright, Uganda’s do it all player, the energetic Arthur Kaluma and his sharp shooting brother Adam Seiko will all be unavailable, as well as head coach George Galanopolous. Uganda will heavily rely on the duo of team veteran Robinson Opong and Denmark-based Deng John Geu as well as the supporting cast of City Oilers BC players, to ensure Uganda carries the moment they developed at Afrobasket 2021. Irrespective, Uganda will be happy to have made the trip to Angola, as the government only provided the required funds necessary to make the trip at the last minute…..sigh.
Mali: Mali took 15th at Afrobasket 2021….so not much to write about on this end.
Group C: Angola, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea
Côte d’Ivoire: Les Elephants, were one of Africa’s five participants at World Cup 2019, however, they finished the tournament winless. Côte d’Ivoire was determined not to replicate these results at Afrobasket 2021, finishing with a 5-1 record, with their only blemish, a 78-75 loss to Tunisa in the finals. Côte d’Ivoire has been one of the more solid sides on the continent for just over a decade. New additions to the team such as Matt Costello, who finished the tournament averaging 16.2 ppg and 9.2 rbds as well as veterans including Stephane Konate, Guy Landry Edi, Vafessa Fofana and Souleyman Diabate were instrumental in attaining this result. Les Elephants will have to do without the services of Costello, but the 41 year old Konate, who currently plays for AS Police in Mali, a 2021 BAL participant, will look to show that “age ain’t noting but a number” and lead his country to victory. Diabate, who won the 2021 BAL title with Zamalek, will also look to provide the team with his characteristic high energy, while Fofana and Edi will also play their part in leading the Ivorian charge.
Angola: Qualifying window host Angola, has arguably been the continent’s foremost basketball force over the last 30 years, but it seems the sun might be setting on this team and from all indication, Angola is going through a transition. Angola failed to make the Afrobasket semifinals for the second successive tournament. Carlos Morais led the team with 16.8 ppg and his clutch three point shooting always gave Angola the chance to get a result which they would have otherwise, had no business obtaining. Nevertheless, young guns such as Aboubakar Gakou of Petro Luanda and Teotonio Do of Primeiro de Agosto will have to step up in the absence of injured veterans including Morais and his Petro teammate Leonel Paulo and the retirement of Eduardo Mingas.
Central African Republic (CAR): The recent dominance of teams such as Angola, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia would make newer basketball followers unaware that, the CAR was one of Africa’s most potent sides for the better of the 1970’s and 1980’s, even participating at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. Times have changed and les Fauves are a shadow of the previous glory they used to achieve, with their 14th place finish at Afrobasket 2021 indicative of this assertion. Nevertheless, CAR basketball could be on the verge of experiencing a renaissance, with the return of Evans Ganapamo and Allan Dokosi to the national side. Ganapamo who plays for the Cape Town Tigers and Dokosi, with Fos Provence Basket in the French Pro B, were inexplicably left off the CAR Afrobasket squad. Both players are reliable scorers and will play key roles in trying to gain their country’s qualification for the next round.
Guinea: They did well at Afrobasket 2021, but just don’t seem to have enough at this….but who knows, I might be wrong.
