Interbasket

With a few days left before Olympic basketball begins, Interbasket is previewing the twelve national teams participating in the tournament.  We reviewed the six teams in Group A on Tuesday, and we’ll be reviewing Group B today. (Click here for Olympic Basketball Group A Preview).

With the United States, Spain and Greece all in Group B, the group is obviously the tougher group of the two. Unlike Group A where five teams have a chance for four spots with Iran a 100-1 chance to win a game, Group B will likely have one spot for either Angola, China, or Germany assuming that the heavyweights take the top-three spots.

United States Olympic Preview (discuss)
FIBA World Ranking: 1 (832.2)
Qualified: 2007 Fiba Americas Tournament (Gold)
Roster: Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd, Dwyane Wade, Deron Williams
Facts: If the USA wins the gold, Jason Kidd will join Larry Bird as the two oldest basketball Olympic gold-medalists (Larry was an older 35, beating Kidd by a few months).
Note: This may be the first real group of US players that are coming in with a real sense of urgency and respect (basketball-wise) for their opponents.  “For too long, we’ve been saying it’s our game,” said USA coach Mike Krzyzewski. “It’s really the world’s game. You can’t be arrogant and win.”

I’ve followed their U.S. coverage and their play and teamwork seems as cohesive as I have seen a US team with a couple exceptions. Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade have proven they haven’t completely bought into the team concept when they step on the court as they’ve broke the offense many times to go one on one with only mixed results.  Wade has converted on his individual forays, while Kobe has not.

This type of play will hurt the US especially against more disciplined teams such as Greece, Spain and Argentina, but if they make the shots that will add to the US’s intimidation factor.  And though the intmidation factor is not nearly as it was in the previous years, the USA still can seem imposing.

“(The USA) can intimidate a lot of people,” said Australia’s Chris Anstey.

The key for the USA and their intimidation is their defensive ball pressure and offensive flow.  One feeds into the other, and if the US runs into a defensive team with capable guards (see Greece, Spain, Argentina and Croatia), it can cause major problems for the United States.

Every time Jason Kidd has put on a USA jersey, he has been an important player for the United States, but his needed impact is less necessary this time around with the growth and skills of the spectacular Chris Paul and powerful Deron Williams.

Outside of needing work on his help defense, Carmelo Anthony continues to be the most-adapted international player on team USA, Instead of being the explosive scorer he is in the NBA, Anthony is quietly getting 15 a game by letting the game come to him.

LeBron James is adapting, though he’s been tempted to shooting fadeaway jumpshots as he does in the NBA, his amazing shooting percentages in the FIBA tournament of the America and the recent pre-tourney games shows he is picking and choosing his spots.  (He averaged 18 ppg in the TOA on 76% from the field and 63% from three).

The play of the big guys, Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh, will be particularly important against the more competitive teams.  Howard is at that stage of his career where consistency is still an issue.  Some days he looks like a thinner, more athletic Shaquille O’Neal and other days he seems content, almost biding his time, watching LeBron, Carmelo, and Wade get their shots.  I think the US is definitely one of the favorites, it’s how this team will respond to being challenged will be the true test; will they come together or will they be tempted to play one-on-one?  USA’s First Game: August 10th, 2008 vs. China (22:15 local time)

Links and Resources: Basketball at the Summer Olympics (Wikipedia), US survives toughest test, beat Asutralia by 11 (Associate Press)

Spain Olympic Preview (discuss)
FIBA World Ranking: 3 (580)
Qualified: 2006 World Championships (Gold)
Roster: José Calderón, Rudy Fernández, Jorge Garbajosa, Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol, Carlos Jiménez, Raúl López, Álex Mumbrú, Juan Carlos Navarro, Felipe Reyes, Berni Rodríguez, Ricky Rubio
Facts: A tribute to how strong this Spanish team is, they won the 2006 World Championships without leading scorer Pau Gasol, whom was injured the game before.  Espana’s medalcount stands at 97 total medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics, placing them 34th overall in the world, behind Greece.

Note: The Spaniards are a disciplined, emotional, talented, and they don’t just want to beat you, they want to embarrass you.

The Spanish National Team hasn’t changed much in the last two years and they’re bringing almost the same squad as they had in the 2006 World Championships (where they won first), and the 2007 Eurobasket (where they took 2nd).

Speaking to the talent of the Spanish team, they boast seven players that have played, currently play, or will play in the NBA, the most in the Olympics outside of the USA.

Spain brings back 10 of the 12 players from those two tournaments, only swapping out point guards Carlos Cabezas and Sergio Rodríguez with point guards Raul Lopez and Ricky Rubio, arguably the best 17-year old basketball player.  With only minor changes to the team, and without significant losses to their core, Spain’s chemistry and gameplan will be amongst the strongest, if not the strongest, in the field.

With that said, Group B has the best guard play in the tournament, and Spain boasts a really strong backcourt in fiery Jose Calderon, La Bomba Juan Carlos Navarro, solid Raul Lopez and teen phenom Ricky Rubio.  Look for Calderon to be all over the floor this tournament, whether because of opponents or self-inflicted.  Also look for opposing fans to hate him.

Their frontcourt is nothing to sleep on either with their cog Pau Gasol and brother Marc are intense on the inside.  Swingman Rudy Fernandez is a better-Carlos Delfino - much better.   Carlos Jiménez is one of those players that is more than willing to sacrifice any individual accolades so that his team succeeds, that’s a nice way of saying he’ll do the real dirty work.

Spain has been looking great in preliminaries blowing out contenders in Argentina and Lithuania.  I know that using friendlies as a gauge is flawed, but I think it does help to determine a team’s preparedness, especially when playing against other senior national A teams.

Pau Gasol is weary about the competition, but it doesn’t phase his confidence “There are several big teams in the competition, such as Argentina or Greece — and especially the United States is very strong this year,” the Spanish superstar said “Once we are in the quarter-finals we will begin to make plans. We must demonstrate to everyone why we came here as the favorites.“ 

Their first step towards those quarterfinals is a huge one, they’ll play Greece in their first 2008 Olympic match.  That’s going to be one intense game, people.  Spain’s First Game: August 10th, 2008 vs. Greece (14:30 local time)

Links and Resources: Basketball at the Summer Olympics (Wikipedia), Kobe can Wait, says Spain’s Gasol (AFP), What about Carlos Jimenez? (Interbasket)

Greece Olympic Preview (discuss)
FIBA World Ranking: 6 (429)
Qualified: 2008 World Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Roster: Yiannis Bourousis, Dimitris Diamantidis, Antonis Fotsis, Andreas Glyniadakis, Theodoros Papaloukas, Michalis Pelekanos, Giorgos Printezis, Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Vasileios Spanoulis, Kostas Tsartsaris, Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, Nikos Zisis
Facts: Throughout its history, Greece has totaled 104 total medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics, placing them 33rd overall in the world (behind New Zealand and ahead of Spain).

Note: Not far behind USA and Spain, is Team Hellas.  Aggressive on offense and defense, the Greeks have an all-world defense led by their starting backcourt of Theodoros Papaloukas and Dimitris Diamantidis.

The Greeks came off a unbeaten record in the World Qualifying Tourney (4-0) defeating their opponents by a decisive 32 points a game, including a complete 57-point drubbing of Lebanon.  Yowza.

Along with the United States and Spain, Greece’s backcourt is amongst the strongest in the tournament with all-European player Theodoros Papaloukas, defensive genius Dmitrios Diamanditis, the fearless Vasillis Spanoulis, and solid Nikos Zisis.

Theodoros Papaloukas is a pure point guard that stands 6-7, and is arguably been Europe’s most successful player in recent history, as well as being the Euroleague’s all-time leading assist man and thief.  Diamantidis is the Joe Dumars of the Euroleague, quiet, smart and known for his defensive prowess, the Octopus Man has being named as 2007 Euroleague Final MVP,  2005, 2006 and 2007 Euroleague Best Defender, 2006-07 All-Euroleague First Team.  Spanoulis provides an aggressive player that can get to the basket and Zisis a consistent perimeter threat in both running the offense and shooting the three.

Zisis is coming off a shoulder injury from the World Qualifiers, but should be ready in time for Greece’s first game matchup against Spain.

On the frontline is the 6-10 Antonis Fotsis, a skilled athelete with a knack for rebounding the ball can also step back and shoot the three.  6-9 Sofoklis Schortsanitis who was a force in the 2006 World Championships, but since has had trouble controlling his weight and 6-11 center Yiannis Bourousis.  Bourousis will fill the space of the national team center mainstay Lazaros Papadopoulos, whom wasn’t included on the Olympic roster.

Greece has been running on all cylinders as of late, that’s not good news for Group B, or the rest of the world for that matter.  Their first test is going to be a good one, they’ll be playing recent nemesis Spain.  Expect some sparks to fly.  Greece’s First Game: August 10th, 2008 vs. Spain (14:30 local time)

Links and Resources: Zisis to undergo intensive treatment (FIBA), Basketball at the Summer Olympics (Wikipedia),

Germany Olympic Preview (discuss)
FIBA World Ranking: 9 (284, tie)
Qualified: 2008 World Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Roster:  Patrick Femerling, Robert Garrett, Demond Greene, Steffen Hammann, Jan Jagla, Chris Kaman, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Ohlbrecht, Pascal Roller, Sven Schultze, Konrad Wysocki, Philip Zwiener
Facts: Dirk Nowitzki will join Sarunas Jasikevicius, Manu Ginobili, and Andrei Kirilenko as the flag-bearer for Germany, which apparently is odd because only German Gold Medal winners who took part in several olympic games were considered. Germany’s total medalcount is at 648 for both Winter and Summer Olympics, putting them 5th in the world.

Note: This is Dirk Nowitzki’s first Olympics and the pressure is on. Because Deustchland is still all about Dirk Nowitzki, the burden for him to perform is at its highest since he led Dallas to the NBA Finals two years ago.

Recognizing the reliance on Germany’s best hooper, Team Germany has continue to fine-tune and tightened up Dirk’s supporting cast.

They’ve added naturalized American 7-0 center Chris Kaman whom will take a huge load off of Nowitzki by holding down the interior and pulling in his share of rebounds - Kaman averaged 8.6 rebounds and added 12.6 points to boot in the FiBA World Qualifying Tournament.

Germany has also tweaked the players outside the paint with solid preimeter players and outside shooters in Pascal Roller, Steffen Hamman, Demond Greene, and Robert Garrett.

Robert Garrett is 6-4, but Roller stands only 5-11, and Hamman and Greene at 6-1.  With significant players lacking in height, Germany will really miss their warrior in the paint, 6-9 Ademola Olulaja, whom pulled out of the Olympics after reportedly being diagnosed with a tumor in his spine.  With Okulaja out, the 33-year old, 7-1 center Patrick Femerling and 6-8 Konrad Wysocki will be called upon to contribute in the German frontcourt.  With all that said, this team’s fortunes begin and end with Dirk Nowitzki, and the 7-0 German has always delivered in international tournaments. Germany’s First Game: August 10th, 2008 vs. Angola (11:15 local time)

Links and Resources: Basketball at the Summer Olympics (Wikipedia), Nowitzki will be flag-bearer for Germany (Spiegel.de), Concerns raised over Okulaja’s health (FIBA)

China Olympic Preview (discuss)
FIBA World Ranking: 11 (252.7)
Qualified: Host
Roster: Yao Ming, Liu Wei, Yi Jianlian, Chen Jianghua, Weipeng Zheng, Chen Jianghu, Sun Yue, Wang Zhizhi
Facts: China has 319 total medals in both Winter and Summer Olympics, ranking them 15th in the world. Among the 433 torch bearers in the final Olympic torch relay from the Forbidden City to Beijing, Yao Ming was the ninth bearer.  Yao will also be the China’s flag-bearer for the opening ceremonies, this is the second consecutive Olympics that Yao has the honor of bearing the flag, he also did so in Athens 2004.  Including 2008, Chinese Basketball players have beared the flag for China in the opening ceremonies in seven straight Olympics Wang Libin (1984), Song Tao (1988), Song Li (1992),  Liu Yudong (1996 and 2000), and Yao Ming (2004 and 2008).

Note: Host team China has the pressure to do well on their homecourt.  Despite the obvious lofty expectations, Team China’s goal is progress, and that is to make it into the quarterfinals.  With USA, Spain and Greece all in China’s group, that would be a great accomplishment for the host team.

Chinese superstar Yao Ming is coming off another leg injury and whether his timing and stamina will be up is a concern for China.  “I went several months without playing and it’s hard.” Yao said.

Even if Yao doesn’t score 30 points and grab 15 rebounds in a game, the 7-6 center’s presence is invaluable to Team China on both ends of the court.  Teams have to be concerned that the Chinese giant is more than capable of getting 30 points and 15 rebounds.

Like the Aussies, the strength of the Chinese team is their frontcourt.  With the new walking great wall, veterans Ming, Wang Zhizhi, and newcomer Yi Jianlian (taking place of Mengke Bateer) standing at the frontline, they will certainly be imposing.  A couple issues with the big men is that they are all turnover prone, how well they will move their feet and how quickly they can get to rebounds, as none of the three are lightning quick or are naturally strong rebounders.

China has never had a problem filling their frontline with talented big men, but the question has always been whether China will have the capacity in the backcourt to finish off competitive games.

Liu Wei is an experienced international player and should do a decent job running the point as he played 10 years with Yao Ming and this will be his third Olympics.  Liu’s backup is Chen Jianghu, whom participated in the 2007 Nike Hoops Summit as part of the World All-Star team, is new to the National team and tends to play sporadically.

Even with all the questions about China’s National Team, Li Yuanwei, deputy director of the Chinese Basketball Association thinks this National team is the best team China has ever fielded: “I think the Chinese teams at the Beijing Games are the best.” We’ll have to wait and see.  China’s First Game: August 10th, 2008 vs. USA (22:15 local time)

Links and Resources: Basketball at the Summer Olympics (Wikipedia), China has best basketball teams in history, top official (Xinhua), Olympic Torch Relay begins final leg to Beijing (China Daily)

Angola Olympic Preview (discuss)
FIBA World Ranking: 14 (206)
Qualified: 2007 African Championships (1st)
Roster: Carlos Almeida, Felizardo Ambrosio, Milton Barros, Abdel Aziz Boukar, Olimpio Cipriano, Armando Costa, Luis Costa, Vladimir Geronimo, Joaquim Gomes, Paulo Leonel, Eduardo Mingas, Carlos Morais.
Facts: This will be Angola’s fifth-straight Olympic Games as the sole representative from Africa.

Notes: Angola is the perennial African champions, and have won the last nine of ten African Championships, dating back to 1989.  Despite the continental success, Angola has never placed higher than 10th in either the Olympics or the World Championships.  The southwestern African nation is looking for a lot more progress this time around.

Angola is assuming that powerhouse USA, Spain and Greece will advance to the quarterfinals so, they’ve marked the calendars for their games against Germany and China.  “Spain are world champions, and Greece and the U.S. are just very, very tough.” said Carlos Almeida, Angola’s veteran shooting guard. “China and Germany are tough teams but we will try to steal those games.  We know we have the ability to beat them.”

Defeating Dirk Nowitzki and Yao Ming’s teams would basically guarantee Angola a spot in the next round.

Angola comes back with a similar gameplan as in past tournaments - small ball.  Always seemingly bringing a roster that is lacking a legitimate big man, Angola plays small ball with their tallest players only standing at 6-8; leading scorer and rebounder Joaquim Gomes.  Abdel Aziz Boukar is also 6-8 and Felizardo Ambrosio is 6-7.

What the Angolans lack in height, they make up for in speed, energy, and athleticism, quite possibly matching the USA in overall athelticism.  Team Angola has will be led by the three-headed forward combination of Joaquim Gomes, Eduardo Mingas, and Olimpio Cipriano.

This threesome has consistently been Angola’s leading scorers over the last several tournaments, and we would assume that this will remain the case.  The 29 year-old Mingas and 27-year old Gomes have played together since the 2002 World Championships, with Cirpriano joining the tandem in the 2004 Athens Olympics.  Angola’s First Game: August 10th, 2008 vs. Germany (11:15 local time)

Links and Resources: Basketball at the Summer Olympics (Wikipedia), Angola aims to give China the elbow (Guardian.co.uk)

With the two Olympic Basketball Groups now set and determined, which group would you rather be in?  Or as a thread in our Olympic Basketball Forum asks, “which is the Group of Death, A or B?”

The twelve participating national teams were randomly drawn into two separate groups..  Each of the two group will have six teams, with the top four teams from each group advancing into the quarterfinals.   Here is what the groups look like:

Group A: Argentina, Australia, Croatia, Iran, Lithuania, and Russia
Group B: Angola, China, Germany, Greece, Spain, and USA

Group A
In group A, we have the aging gold medalists from the 2004 Athens Olympics, Argentina.  With age, an injury to Manu Ginobili, and the lack of Pepe Sanchez and Walter Hermmann, they’re not as fearsome as they were in 2004 or even 2006, but certainly cannot be overlooked.

Also in Group A are three very solid European teams.  The 2007 Eurobasket surprise champions Russia, led by the do-it-all Andrei Kirilenko and Victor Khryapa.

Even without stars Arvydas Macijauskas and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Lithuania is always a force to be dealt with as they’re battle-tested with Ramunas Siskauskas and Sarunas Jasikevicius.  Then we have the revamped Croatian squad that went unbeaten in the recent Pre-Olympic World Qualifiers, thanks to efficient performances by Marko Tomas.

Rounding out Group A is a competitive Aussie team with David Andersen, Brad Newley and Andrew Bogut, and a not so competitive Iranian team.  All in all, this group is probably the most-rounded of the two groups.

Group B
Group B features two of the favorites of the tournament - the United States (now with preparation and urgency!) and Spain, the 2006 World Champions.  The Spaniards are a disciplined, emotional, talented, and stacked team - a deadly combination.  Not far behind these the USA and Spain, is Greece.  Team Hellas just came off a 4-0 record in the World Qualifying Tourney, defeating their opponents by a sick 32 points a game, including a complete 57-point drubbing of Lebanon. Yikes.

I would place hosts China and the Dirk Nowitzki-led Germans in the same tier.  No two teams need more from their NBA stars than these two teams.  China has the pressure to do well on their homecourt, they have Yao Ming coming off injury, a young and talented 7-0 Yi Jianlian, and Wang Zhizhi coming back to the National Team.  Together they form the new version of the Great Wall.  Germany has really tighetned up their supporting cast, adding a naturalized Chris Kaman and solid outside shooters that will make teams pay for paying too much attention to Nowitzki.

Also in group B, is the perennial African champion Angola.  This team continues to improve year over year as they have the best organization and support of all African teams. Led by Eduardo Mingas, Olimpio Cipriano, and Joaquim Gomes, the Angolans are never an easy squad to defeat.

So which group is tougher?
Well, it all depends on which perspective you are taking. You have five competitive teams in Group A, but you also have Iran in that same group.  Group B has three top-tiered teams, with a three decent teams in Angola, China and Germany, each with an decent chance of upsetting any team.

It really comes down to which likely-scenario is tougher - With Group A, there are five teams with similar chances advancing unto the next round, so four teams out of five, with the sixth team Iran unlikely to make any noise.  However in group B, it’s essentially three teams fighting for one spot because the United States, Spain and Greece are very likely to qualify into the next round.

So with that said, if I were a national team, chances are better to advance in group A scenario.

Links and Resources: Which one is the “group of death”, A or B? (Interbasket Forum), Olympic Basketball Forum & Message Board (Interbasket)

The nomination period is now over and the nominees for IBN’s 2007 Awards have been selected - now it’s up to you to decide which player has had the best 2007, as far as performances, awards, medals and records, in the following categories:

* 2007 IBN Player of the Year (<- click to vote)
* 2007 NBA Player of the Year (<- click to vote)
* 2007 Euroleague Player of the Year (<- click to vote)
* 2007 International Player of the Year (<- click to vote)
* 2007 Under-22 Player of the Year (<- click to vote)
* 2007 African Player of the Year (<- click to vote)
* 2007 Asian Player of the Year (<- click to vote)
* 2007 European Player of the Year (<- click to vote)
* 2007 Latin American Player of the Year (<- click to vote)
* 2007 North American Player of the Year (<- click to vote)
* 2007 Oceanic Player of the Year (<- click to vote)
* 2007 Team of the Year (<- click to vote)

Stay Tuned: voting has yet to commence for the following Ideal-Five/All-World Teams:
* All-World Team Point/Base Guard of the Year
* All-World Team Shooting Guard of the Year
* All-World Team Small Forward of the Year
* All-World Team Power Forward of the Year
* All-World Team Pivot/Center of the Year

Yao Ming is dominating the Asian Player of the year category again.

So who is your pick? LeBron James, Dimitris Diamantidis, Dirk Nowitzki, and Ramunas Siskauskas had fantastic years. and Tim Duncan have had a great 2007 full of championships and awards.

And of all the Argentines nominated for the Latin American Player of the Year, do you go with the easy pick of Manu Ginobili, but didn’t Luis Scola have a better well-rounded year overall? Or Pablo Prigioni? What’s worth more - NBA Champion or ACB MVP and leading your team to a surprising finish in the Tournament of the Americas?

Which is a better performance? Helping to win a championship where you are the heavy-favorite and are expected to win (as Joaquim Gomes and Olimpio Cipriano did in the Afrobasket championships) or is leading an underdog to a awesome finish that wasn’t as expected (as Luc Richard Mbah A Moute of Cameroon and Esteban Batista of Uruguay did for their teams)? With that said, where does Iran’s run in the Asian-Championships stand? Enough to be the Team of the Year?

What of Steve Nash, Theodoros Papaloukas, and Leandro Barbosa and Andrei Kirilenko.

In the our Under-22 category, Rudy Fernandez won last year and turned 22 this year, so who will be the new U-22 player of the year? How can one be so informed to make a selection out of all the promising young players that have been nominated? Awesome prospects like Nikola Pekovic (Croatia), Kevin Durant (US), Ricky Rubio (Spain), Andris Biedrins (Latvia), Milan Mačvan (Serbia), Yi JianLian (China), Greg Oden (US) and Kostas Koufos (Greece) are the nominees this year.

Related: 2007 Interbasket Award Nomination Thread, List of 2006 IBN Award Winners, What Happened in Basketball in 2007 (Wikipedia)

It’s that time of year for the IBN awards to be handed out, but first we need players to be nominated. This year we’ve added a couple categories, and we’re looking for the best players from 2007, and only accomplishments in 2007 (need help remembering? click here). Hurry, post your nominations in our forum thread, as we will only accept nominations until December 24th.

* Player of the Year: (any country)
* NBA Player of the Year: (any country)
* Euroleague Player of the Year: (any country)
* International Player of the Year: (non-US)
* U22 Player of the Year: (any country, Under 22-years-old, must not have turned 22 in 2007)
* African Player of the Year: (any African-born player)
* Asian Player of the Year: (any Asian-born player)
* European Player of the Year: (any European-born player)
* Latin American Player of the Year: (any Latin American-born player)
* North American Player of the Year: (any US/Canadian-born player)
* Oceanic/Australian Player of the Year: (any Oceanic/Australian-born player)

You may nominate three teams for the following category:
* Team of the Year: (any country)

You may nominate 3 players for the following categories (these will determine the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd teams):
* All-World Team Guard of the Year : (any country)
* All-World Team Guard of the Year : (any country)
* All-World Team Forward of the Year : (any country)
* All-World Team Forward of the Year : (any country)
* All-World Team Center of the Year : (any country)

It’s unlikely Pau Gasol will repeat this year as IBN’s Player of the Year. Will Yao Ming again dominate the Asian Player of the year category? And with Rudy Fernandez turning 22 this year, who will be the new U-22 player of the year?

So who is on your list? LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Dimitris Diamantidis and Ramunas Siskauskas had fantastic years. In a lesser extent, so has Luis Scola and Tony Parker. Sure, Joaquim Gomes led Angola to the Afrobasket championships, but did he have a better year than Luc Richard Mbah A Moute of Cameroon and UCLA? What of Steve Nash, Theodoros Papaloukas, and Leandro Barbosa?

Was Andrei Kirilenko’s performance in the Eurobasket enough to overshadow his terrible playin the NBA playoffs and his subsequent dispute with the Utah Jazz? Nominate whom you think deserves an IBN award today.

Related: 2007 Interbasket Award Nomination Thread, List of 2006 IBN Award Winners, What Happened in Basketball in 2007 (Wikipedia)

Angola locked up a berth for the 2008 Olympics after winning the 2007 AfroBasket against Cameroon Saturday. Angola won 86-72 led by Eduardo Mingas‘ 18 points and Afrobasket MVP Joaquim Gomes (13 points, 5 rebounds). With the silver medal in hand, Cameroon will also be heading to Beijing. The game wasn’t as lopsided as some would expect , as Cameroon used their size and energy to keep up with the Angolans. Cameroon was buoyed by Brice Vounang’s 18 points and 10 rebounds, Patric Bouli’s 16 points and Gaston Essengue’s 14 points.

This is Angola’s ninth African Championship.

[related thread] [source]

(more…)

The African regional championships have begun. Afrobasket 2007 will be held this year in Luanda, the largest city and the capital of Angola. The tourney features 16 teams from across the continent - Angola, Cameroon, Cape Verde Island, Central African Republic, Congo, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia.

The main question, as with most African tournaments in recent memory is Can Angola be beat? and not just that, can they be defeated when the tournament is being held in Luanda? Olumide Oyedeji believes that many African teams can defeat the perennial African champions, but most teams on this continent lack Angola’s dedication. [article]

If Angola’s first game was any indication, it’s going to be a difficult task to unseat the defending champions. Angola defeated Afrobasket first-timers Rwanda 109-66. Angola was led by Olimpio Cipriano’s 17 points. Joaquim Gomes added 15 points and Eduardo Mingas posted 14.

Elhadji Ndoye scored 15 points for Senegal helping to defeat Mali last night in their opening Afrobasket game played in Angola. Senegal, the defending Afrobasket silver medalists, will play Egypt next.

Games will be continue until the 25 of August. (Originally published (08/18/2007)

[related thread] [article]