SEN – N’Dong desperate for Senegal to receive wild card to Turkey
BARCELONA (2010 FIBA World Championship) - Time is running out on one of the best African centers of the modern game.
At the age of 32, Senegalese big man Boniface N’Dong has yet to appear at a FIBA World Championship but he hasn’t given up hope of doing that as early as next year.
The Senegalese tried to qualify directly last summer at the Afrobasket in Libya but failed.
Now, the only way this extremely talented African country will take part in next year’s big event is if they receive one of four wild cards that are to be handed out by basketball’s world governing body in less than two weeks in Istanbul, where the FIBA central board will convene.
“I would be really glad if I had the chance to play in this World Championship,” N’Dong said to FIBA.com.
“This may be my last chance. If we get a wild card, we can do better than (African champions) Angola.”
An Afrobasket 2005 MVP, N’Dong had wanted to play in 2006 when the FIBA World Championship was in Japan but did not.
A disorganized Senegalese Basketball Federation, he says, led to his absence.
The Regal Barcelona man missed the following Afrobasket in Angola as well but rejoined the team in Libya this summer and averaged 19 points and nine rebounds.
In Libya, Senegal claimed three victories in as many games and looked good bets to make it to Turkey.
Cracks began to show in the Eight-Final round, though, as Senegal suffered a 72-59 defeat to Rwanda.
That upset was followed by another, a 75-73 shocker at the hands of Morocco.
Senegal ended up facing a very good Ivory Coast side in the Quarter-Finals and lost 84-78, despite 20 points and nine rebounds from N’Dong.
The Senegalese next lost to Nigeria before signing off with a 74-63 defeat of Mali to finish seventh.
They left Libya with 5-4 record.
N’Dong understands the magnitude of the FIBA central board wild card decision and is keeping his fingers crossed that his country will be one of the lucky ones.
“If Africa had the possibility to get two wild cards, I, definitely, would say that Nigeria and Senegal are the teams to get it,” he said.
“These are the teams with the biggest potential in Africa.
“Between these two, of course, Senegal is the ideal country to get it. Not only because it is my country, but because we have many players playing at a high-level. We could do good.”
Failure to get Amagou costly
Last August, with the likes of high-profile players such as Charlotte Bobcats center DeSagana Diop, former Toronto Raptors Pape Sow, Georgia Tech ace Mouhammad Faye, Le Mans star Maleye N’Doye, Japan-based Boubacar Coly and former NBA draft pick Malick Badiane, Senegal believed they had the makings of a team that would qualify yet they missed out.
Asked to describe their performance in Libya 2009, N’Dong replied: “Big disappointment, but we all learned the lesson. We had a good squad with big guys, but we missed (something) in the point-guard position.
“Without a point guard, who makes us play, our big guys can do very little.
“We don’t have a point guard playing at high level, and this makes things very difficult for us.
“I am in position to say that we, as country, are desperate to find a high-profile point guard. We must find a solution urgently. Where this point-guard will come from, I don’t know. An American naturalized point-guard could be an option.”
N’Dong says he was already aware of this need before the Afrobasket and voiced his opinion to Senegalese basketball bosses.
“I urged the Senegalese Federation to persuade Pape Phillipe Amagou to play for us, as he is the son of a Senegalese mother and an Ivorian father,” N’Dong said.
France-born Amagou opted to play instead for the Ivory Coast, and ended up making the all-tournament team in Libya after averaging 11 points and two assists.
Even worse, he buried three three-pointers and finished with 15 points in the win over Senegal.
Amagou, who plays professionally for French side Roanne Basket, will play in 2010 Turkey.
In the gold medal-game against Angola, Amagou poured 18 points and had four assists but his team had to settle for the silver medal.
“I think that the Federation did not do enough to convince him,” N’Dong said.
“Amagou is a great defender, and a brilliant game controller. He is the player we are missing.”
N’Dong was only one year old when Senegal first appeared in a FIBA World Championship.
It was 1978, and Senegal finished bottom in the Philippines with 1-6 record, their lone triumph coming against China.
They appeared in two more FIBA World Championships, in 1998 in Greece and eight years later in Japan.
Senegal have won five African championships in their history, the last in 1997 as the host nation when they beat Nigeria 69-48 in the Final.
Four years ago, Senegal finished runners-up at the Afrobasket after 70-61 defeat to Angola.
N’Dong was the MVP of that event.
Julio Chitunda
FIBA
