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  1. #1
    . Grinder's Avatar
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    Arrow 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    This has been a fun tournament to watch the last few times and the level of play is higher than you'd expect. This edition is being hosted in Abidijan, Ivory Coast. Angola has traditionally been a powerhouse in the region but recently teams like Tunisia, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast have emerged as contenders. The top 3 teams qualify for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

    Some familiar names competing in this tournament:
    Al-Farouq Aminu
    Luc Mbah a Moute
    Ike Diogu
    Gani Lawal
    Saer Sene
    Hamady N'Diaye


    Streams with English commentary can be found here- http://www.sportcategory.com/c-6.html
    Draw and results - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_FI...a_Championship





    Live boxscores and stats can be found here: http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/14/wcm/p/index.html


    A big upset in the first game of the tournament - Mozambique, a squad made up almost entirely of players from their local league edged out a Central African Republic team with several players in the French league.
    Last edited by Grinder; 08-23-2013 at 11:20 AM.

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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Egypt almost pulled off a great comeback from 17 down in the fourth but lost on a heartbreaking game winner from Senegal with 1.7 seconds left. Senegal wins 72-70. Two great games so far.

  3. #3
    High School Starter gabepizza's Avatar
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Weird how no teams get eliminated in pool play. It's just all for placement. Weird tournament. At least one team should get eliminated in pool play!

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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by gabepizza
    Weird how no teams get eliminated in pool play. It's just all for placement. Weird tournament. At least one team should get eliminated in pool play!
    Yeah, I don't understand why they go with that format. They should just include more teams. These games have been intriguing to watch. There's so much raw talent and athleticism out there. With a little refining and better fundamentals, a lot of these guys could be very good role players. Guard play has traditionally been a major weakness in African basketball but it's really improving. Scouting from France and Spain has been a big contributor since they're routinely finding talent in Africa and developing them.

    The level of play in this tournament is certainly higher than the Asian championships. Those teams have better fundamentals but wouldn't be able to compete with this athleticism and defense. Iran is probably the only Asian team that would win this competition.

    Cameroon has a lot of good past NCAA players - Alfred Aboya (UCLA), Alexis Wangmene (Texas), Brice Vounang (San Diego) and Mbah A Moute from the Bucks. Mbah A Moute has been atrocious in this first half - 0 points and multiple turnovers.

    Cameroon leads Congo 33-26 at the half.
    Last edited by Grinder; 08-21-2013 at 11:48 AM.

  5. #5
    High School Starter gabepizza's Avatar
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by Grinder
    Yeah, I don't understand why they go with that format. They should just include more teams. These games have been intriguing to watch. There's so much raw talent and athleticism out there. With a little refining and better fundamentals, a lot of these guys could be very good role players. Guard play has traditionally been a major weakness in African basketball but it's really improving. Scouting from France and Spain has been a big contributor since they're routinely finding talent in Africa and developing them.

    The level of play in this tournament is certainly higher than the Asian championships. Those teams have better fundamentals but wouldn't be able to compete with this athleticism and defense. Iran is probably the only Asian team that would win this competition.

    Cameroon has a lot of good past NCAA players - Alfred Aboya (UCLA), Alexis Wangmene (Texas), Brice Vounang (San Diego) and Mbah A Moute from the Bucks. Mbah A Moute has been atrocious in this first half - 0 points and multiple turnovers.

    Cameroon leads Congo 33-26 at the half.
    Since the retirement of Yao, Africa has surpassed Asia and is no longer the weakest zone. The Olympic qualifying tournament proved that with the Asian teams going 0-4 and losing all 4 of their games by an average of 32.5 points and the African teams going 4-4 with one team actually advancing to the Olympics and winning an elimination game (and against Greece at that)

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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by gabepizza
    Since the retirement of Yao, Africa has surpassed Asia and is no longer the weakest zone. The Olympic qualifying tournament proved that with the Asian teams going 0-4 and losing all 4 of their games by an average of 32.5 points and the African teams going 4-4 with one team actually advancing to the Olympics and winning an elimination game (and against Greece at that)
    Agreed. Imagine how much better these African teams would be if they had proper funding and could afford to bring all their best players over for the national team.



    From yesterday:

    - Mali gave Nigeria a stern test through 3 quarters but the Nigerians pulled away and showed their class in the 4th. The Aminu brothers had several highlight reel dunks. Ike Diogu showed why he's the most important player for Nigeria.

    - Morocco lost a heartbreaker to defending champions Tunisia. Makram Ben Romdhane (just signed in Spain with Murcia) got the offensive rebound of a Mejri free throw and scored the game winning layup with 1.7 seconds left.

    Today:

    - Cape Verde took down CAF. They have an intriguing NBA prospect on their team in 7'3" Walter Tavares who plays in Spain.

    - The athleticism and length in this Senegal - Ivory Coast game is jaw dropping. The host nation looks quite strong and both of these teams are contenders to take it all.

    The atmosphere and crowd at these games has been excellent. Packed crowds, fans playing drums and trumpets, visiting fans, etc.

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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by gabepizza
    Since the retirement of Yao, Africa has surpassed Asia and is no longer the weakest zone. The Olympic qualifying tournament proved that with the Asian teams going 0-4 and losing all 4 of their games by an average of 32.5 points and the African teams going 4-4 with one team actually advancing to the Olympics and winning an elimination game (and against Greece at that)
    Well Nigeria is made up of lower level American players who would never make the Team USA. I remember when they asked Aminu if he's ever been to Nigeria and he said no. They they asked him how could he represent a county he's never been to and he just play it cool like he wants to visit someday.

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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by Rooster
    Well Nigeria is made up of lower level American players who would never make the Team USA. I remember when they asked Aminu if he's ever been to Nigeria and he said no. They they asked him how could he represent a county he's never been to and he just play it cool like he wants to visit someday.
    10/12 members of the Nigerian team were born and raised in the USA.

    Ben Uzoh, Ike Diogu, Al-Farouq Aminu, Gani Lawal, and Olumide Oyedeji have all played or play in the NBA.

    I'd like to see NBA teams take a look at Alade Aminu. He could be a decent 4th or 5th big man.

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    High School Starter gabepizza's Avatar
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by Grinder
    Agreed. Imagine how much better these African teams would be if they had proper funding and could afford to bring all their best players over for the national team.



    From yesterday:

    - Mali gave Nigeria a stern test through 3 quarters but the Nigerians pulled away and showed their class in the 4th. The Aminu brothers had several highlight reel dunks. Ike Diogu showed why he's the most important player for Nigeria.

    - Morocco lost a heartbreaker to defending champions Tunisia. Makram Ben Romdhane (just signed in Spain with Murcia) got the offensive rebound of a Mejri free throw and scored the game winning layup with 1.7 seconds left.

    Today:

    - Cape Verde took down CAF. They have an intriguing NBA prospect on their team in 7'3" Walter Tavares who plays in Spain.

    - The athleticism and length in this Senegal - Ivory Coast game is jaw dropping. The host nation looks quite strong and both of these teams are contenders to take it all.

    The atmosphere and crowd at these games has been excellent. Packed crowds, fans playing drums and trumpets, visiting fans, etc.
    Yeah and if top African players like Ibaka and Deng played for their country of birth instead of whoring themselves out to European teams.

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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by gabepizza
    Yeah and if top African players like Ibaka and Deng played for their country of birth instead of whoring themselves out to European teams.
    True, although I can't blame Deng with the situation in Sudan.


    - Mozambique gave Angola a tough test through 3 quarters before Angola's class shone through and they pulled away in the 4th. This has ben a common theme so far in Afrobasket.

    - Ivory Coast absolutely dominated a tough Senegal by 28 points. The hosts are definitely contenders. Senegal regularly puts out a lineup with 3 guys over 6'10" but Ivory Coast were able to counter their length without too much trouble.

    - Morocco had an easy win over Rwanda earlier. They have a better team than I remember and played Tunisia evenly right up to the buzzer a few nights ago.

    - Makrem Ben Romdhane from Tunisia is a beast. He's an athletic 6'8-6'9" combo forward who can do it all on offense. He has good handles, tremendous offensive instincts, and is an excellent rebounder. He just signed with Murcia in the Spanish League and has NBA potential. He just wrapped up a 19 point first quarter.

    Some highlights from the Olympics where he had an impressive game against team USA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPATwijtdJQ
    Last edited by Grinder; 08-23-2013 at 11:22 AM.

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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    The group stage concluded today some terrific games.

    - Rwanda came within a few seconds of defeating defending champions Tunisia but ultimately fell short in 81-83 overtime loss.

    - Senegal had a narrow win against Algeria.

    - The host Ivorians continued their strong form with a 7 point win over Egypt.

    - Angola survived a scare from the Central African Republic and prevailed 85-80

    - The Congolese picked up their first win with a 10 point defeat of Mali

    - Morocco continues to show why they're a dark horse for a medal with a 20 point win over debutants Burkina Faso

    - In a battle between two of the top contenders, Nigeria came back from a late deficit to defeat Cameroon. Ike Diogu had a dominant performance with 25/15 but the real treat was the Luc Mbah a Moute vs. Al-Farouq Aminu matchup. Mbah a Moute had 18 points/3 rebounds while Aminu had 12 points/9 assists/3 rebounds

    The draw for the knockout stage is as follows:

    Ivory Coast
    Burkina Faso

    Cameroon
    Mozambique

    Angola
    Mali

    Morocco
    Algeria

    Tunisia
    Egypt

    Cape Verde
    Congo

    Nigeria
    Central African Republic

    Senegal
    Rwanda

    My predictions:

    Ivory Coast
    Cameroon

    Morocco
    Angola

    Tunisia
    Congo

    Nigeria
    Senegal
    Last edited by Grinder; 08-25-2013 at 08:27 PM.

  12. #12
    Austin Reaves Fam red1's Avatar
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by Grinder
    10/12 members of the Nigerian team were born and raised in the USA.

    Ben Uzoh, Ike Diogu, Al-Farouq Aminu, Gani Lawal, and Olumide Oyedeji have all played or play in the NBA.

    I'd like to see NBA teams take a look at Alade Aminu. He could be a decent 4th or 5th big man.
    That is nuts. Guess people don't play basketball in Nigeria. Even Hakeem didn't really start playing until a relatively late age.

    Great thread future repped

  13. #13
    #Dre Day in Sac Town andremiller07's Avatar
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by Grinder

    The level of play in this tournament is certainly higher than the Asian championships.
    In general from what I have seen there is a major shortage in talent from Asian countries despite the popularity of basketball being fairly big in them. The players in the Asian leagues stand zero chance against Australian/NZ club teams let alone a higher standard of Europe or NBA and they have very few prospects that ever play at the highest level (I can't even think of 1 Asian who played in the Euroleague) so it really should come as no surprise that African countries have easily overtaken them despite a complete lack of resources the athleticism, potential and natural talent is far greater in Africa.

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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by red1
    That is nuts. Guess people don't play basketball in Nigeria. Even Hakeem didn't really start playing until a relatively late age.

    Great thread future repped

    Nigeria has a well funded (by African standards) domestic league but the skill level is probably low. The thing with Nigeria is that there's so many Nigerian-Americans that are good NCAA players and want to represent Nigeria that it makes it nearly impossible for domestic Nigerians to crack the team. I suspect this will only get tougher with guys like Festus Ezeli, Victor Oladipo, and Trevor Mbakwe vying for spots.

    Quote Originally Posted by andremiller07
    In general from what I have seen there is a major shortage in talent from Asian countries despite the popularity of basketball being fairly big in them. The players in the Asian leagues stand zero chance against Australian/NZ club teams let alone a higher standard of Europe or NBA and they have very few prospects that ever play at the highest level (I can't even think of 1 Asian who played in the Euroleague) so it really should come as no surprise that African countries have easily overtaken them despite a complete lack of resources the athleticism, potential and natural talent is far greater in Africa.
    One of the problems with Asian basketball is that despite it's immense popularity and participation, they focus too much on perimeter/guard skills for players of all positions. The players generally have good fundamentals yet their decision making and ability to play against athleticism/length is lacking.

    Iran has become the new powerhouse in Asia and is the only team that looks remotely capable of competing with the good African teams or average Latin American teams. If you watch the FIBA Americas which starts in a few days, you'll see how much better countries like Venezuela, Uruguay, and Dominican Republic are than the top Asian teams. Heck, China has had a ton of trouble against some of the lowest level European teams like Iceland in recent years (only beat them by 10 a couple years ago).

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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Algeria just got eliminated from the tournament with a tough loss. They lead by 7 points with a little over a minute left but Morocco pulled off a gutsy comeback to advance with an 86-81 overtime win. Great game between two of the up and coming teams in the region. Morocco advances to the QF.

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