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  1. #16
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by Grinder
    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.
    First of all, thanks for a great thread Grinder and thanks for sharing your knowledge.

    Yeah, since so many Nigerians live abroad it's not a surprise that we see so many athletes in different sports with Nigerians origins. And Nigerians tend to have great physique. Nigeria is going to be a fun team to watch in the future and I like that Aminu is showing the way by actually being a young starter in the NBA while playing for the NT as well.


    Quote Originally Posted by Grinder
    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.
    True, I've watched a couple of Asian championships and I totally agree. The biggest problem is the the lack of length, a "scrub" Hadadi, by NBA standards, is completely destroying the competition due the lack of tall and skilled players.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grinder
    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).
    Iran seem to be doing pretty fine, their young prodigy Kazemi just got drafted but they sure would have a really tough time against lower quality teams in Europe and against teams in South America.

    In Sweden we now have 2 NBA players that play for the NT but still we get destroyed by the powerhouses in Europe.

  2. #17
    #Dre Day in Sac Town andremiller07's Avatar
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by millwad
    First of all, thanks for a great thread Grinder and thanks for sharing your knowledge.
    + 1

  3. #18
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by millwad
    First of all, thanks for a great thread Grinder and thanks for sharing your knowledge.

    Yeah, since so many Nigerians live abroad it's not a surprise that we see so many athletes in different sports with Nigerians origins. And Nigerians tend to have great physique. Nigeria is going to be a fun team to watch in the future and I like that Aminu is showing the way by actually being a young starter in the NBA while playing for the NT as well.

    True, I've watched a couple of Asian championships and I totally agree. The biggest problem is the the lack of length, a "scrub" Hadadi, by NBA standards, is completely destroying the competition due the lack of tall and skilled players.

    Iran seem to be doing pretty fine, their young prodigy Kazemi just got drafted but they sure would have a really tough time against lower quality teams in Europe and against teams in South America.

    In Sweden we now have 2 NBA players that play for the NT but still we get destroyed by the powerhouses in Europe.
    The one nice thing is that even though they were born and raised in the US, they seem to take pride in representing their parents' country and wearing the national team jersey. In international basketball, I think think that's half the battle.

    Haddadi is an interesting case for sure - he clearly has talent and can dominate weaker competition but he's so awkward in his movements and his game is so unrefined that he looks worse than he is.

    Swedish basketball is definitely on the upswing. You guys lost most of your preparation games for Eurobasket but it seems like you're developing better prospects every year. Obviously Jerebko and Taylor are the best players but there's two young guys from Barcelona - Marcus Eriksson and Ludvig Hakanson - who are two of the best young players in Europe.


    Thanks guys.

  4. #19
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    We have the first major upset of the tournament. After going undefeated in pool play, the defending champions Tunisia are eliminated by the Egyptians.

    This is a crushing loss for the Tunisians but the reaction of the Egyptians was euphoric. Egypt played a heck of a game and really pounded the paint to come up with a 10 points victory. 6'9"; 250 lb. big man Assem Marei has been Egypt's best player in the tournament. He's got a soft touch and is fairly athletic for a guy his size. The north African teams along with Angola have been the most fundamentally sound in the tournament.

  5. #20
    #Dre Day in Sac Town andremiller07's Avatar
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by Grinder
    We have the first major upset of the tournament. After going undefeated in pool play, the defending champions Tunisia are eliminated by the Egyptians.

    Egypt played a heck of a game and really pounded the paint to come up with a 10 points victory. 6'9"; 250 lb. big man Assem Marei has been Egypt's best player in the tournament. He's got a soft touch and is fairly athletic for a guy his size. The north African teams have been the most fundamentally sound in the tournament.
    Hey grinder is there anywhere these are being streamed? Or a place where I can d/l the games? How are you watching them exactly? I'm real thirsty for some fresh basketball to watch.

  6. #21
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by andremiller07
    Hey grinder is there anywhere these are being streamed? Or a place where I can d/l the games? How are you watching them exactly? I'm real thirsty for some fresh basketball to watch.
    Hey man, I posted a live stream link in the first post of the thread. All the games have English commentary. The next game starts in 20 minutes (Congo vs. Cape Verde). If you're interested in possible NBA prospects, look out for 7'3" Walter Tavares from Cape Verde. 6'9" pogo stick Karl Niamamoukoko is the best prospect from Congo. Both guys play in Spain.

  7. #22
    #Dre Day in Sac Town andremiller07's Avatar
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by Grinder
    Hey man, I posted a live stream link in the first post of the thread. All the games have English commentary. The next game starts in 20 minutes (Congo vs. Cape Verde). If you're interested in possible NBA prospects, look out for 7'3" Walter Tavares from Cape Verde. 6'9" pogo stick Karl Niamamoukoko is the best prospect from Congo. Both guys play in Spain.
    Big thanks for that I always enjoy watching decent bball with players I don't know (e.g Summer League) will be watching out for those guys cheers again. The way I look at it there is a surplus of talent in the world of basketball so it's always interesting to see guy's you probably would have never seen and just enjoy the game for what it is.
    Last edited by andremiller07; 08-27-2013 at 10:47 AM.

  8. #23
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by andremiller07
    Big thanks for that I always enjoy watching decent bball with players I don't know (e.g Summer League) will be watching out for those guys cheers again. The way I look at it there is a surplus of talent in the world of basketball so it's always interesting to see guy's you probably would have never seen and just enjoy the game for what it is.
    No problem! Absolutely, basketball has truly become a global game these days. Each edition of this tournament has seen the quality of the play improve leaps and bounds. There's still a ways to go but the recruiting of European teams and Basketball Without Borders has done a great deal for basketball on the continent.

    - Cape Verde pulled off a comeback from 15+ down in the third quarter to eliminate Congo. The Congolese looked devastated after letting a golden opportunity to make the semis slip away (winner plays Egypt).

    - The Nigerians dominated the CAF with a dazzling display of athleticism. Their one glaring weakness is their 3 point shooting but when they're knocking down outside shots like they were today, they're the class of the tournament.

    - Senegal put Rwanda away with an impressive display from Swiss-Senegalese youngster Pape Badji. (20 points/8 rebounds on just 9 shots). If Senegal can qualify for the World Cup, look for them to bring a much stronger team with more NBA and Europe-based players.

    The draw:

  9. #24
    High School Starter gabepizza's Avatar
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by Grinder
    We have the first major upset of the tournament. After going undefeated in pool play, the defending champions Tunisia are eliminated by the Egyptians.

    This is a crushing loss for the Tunisians but the reaction of the Egyptians was euphoric. Egypt played a heck of a game and really pounded the paint to come up with a 10 points victory. 6'9"; 250 lb. big man Assem Marei has been Egypt's best player in the tournament. He's got a soft touch and is fairly athletic for a guy his size. The north African teams along with Angola have been the most fundamentally sound in the tournament.
    Wow what a victory for the Egyptians with what has been going on in their country. Hopefully this will give them something to be happy for.

    Egypt!

  10. #25
    #Dre Day in Sac Town andremiller07's Avatar
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    I like the look of Coronel(the SG) from Cape Verde has a good nose for the ball and a high motor (probably not a NBA prospect) with decent skills topped with good athletic ability. He's just what I would classify as a pure basketball player.
    Last edited by andremiller07; 08-28-2013 at 11:36 AM.

  11. #26
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by andremiller07
    I like the look of Coronel(the SG) from Cape Verde has a good nose for the ball and a high motor (probably not a NBA prospect) with decent skills topped with good athletic ability. He's just what I would classify as a pure basketball player.

    Yeah, he's a smooth looking player. He'll play in the NCAA for Maine this fall.

    That was a tough loss for Cape Verde as they missed a game winner at the buzzer but you've got to be happy for the Egyptians with all the turmoil going on back home. They're turning out to be the story of the tournament.

    The ongoing game between Cameroon and Ivory Coast should be a good one.

  12. #27
    High School Starter gabepizza's Avatar
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Wow! We know the African zone is getting stronger when the 1st place and 3rd place teams from the 2011 African championship (including the team that beat Lithuania and eliminated Greece in last year's Olympic qualifying event) don't even make the semi-finals.

    On the negative side these upsets will make it harder for an African teams to win games in the World Cup next year but I guess it's good that more African teams will get the experience of playing against top teams. I see African really improving in the next few year. Last year was the first time an African team won a bracket game ever, can next year be the first time they do it in the WC. In 2006 Nigeria lost to Dirk and Germany by only point in the round of 16.

  13. #28
    High School Starter gabepizza's Avatar
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Anyway I guess winning an elimination game against Senegal is a lot more difficult than winning one against Greece.


  14. #29
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship

    Quote Originally Posted by gabepizza
    Wow! We know the African zone is getting stronger when the 1st place and 3rd place teams from the 2011 African championship (including the team that beat Lithuania and eliminated Greece in last year's Olympic qualifying event) don't even make the semi-finals.

    On the negative side these upsets will make it harder for an African teams to win games in the World Cup next year but I guess it's good that more African teams will get the experience of playing against top teams. I see African really improving in the next few year. Last year was the first time an African team won a bracket game ever, can next year be the first time they do it in the WC. In 2006 Nigeria lost to Dirk and Germany by only point in the round of 16.
    Stunning upset from Senegal over the loaded Nigerian squad!

    Man, Saer Sene might be the worst offensive player I've ever seen but his ridiculous length allows him to impact the game so much defensively. If that guy had any semblance of basketball IQ, he'd still be in the NBA.

    The field is wide open now, I'd say Angola and the Ivorians are the favorites. Egypt is the feel good story of the tourney.


  15. #30
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    Default Re: 2013 FIBA Africa Championship


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