DENVER (USA) - Fifteen years after finishing second at FIBA AfroBasket, Senegal's new head coach Boniface Ndong still feels that his country could have done a lot better.

Lessons will have been learnt from that defeat to Angola on August 24, 2005, in Algiers, and Ndong says, his coached Senegal won't be making mistakes from the past.

"OUR SUCCESS DEPENDS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL PLAYERS BECAUSE NOT EVERYBODY HAS A CHANCE TO GO ABROAD, ESPECIALLY SMALLER PLAYERS"
- Boniface Ndong

Whether or not Ndong's intentions will come to fruition, we'll find out later this month when Senegal take on Angola, Kenya and Mozambique in the first round of Group B of the FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Qualifiers in Kigali, Rwanda.

It will be Ndong's debut as head coach of his country, and he's so confident in a successful campaign in Kigali that he has selected Senegal's best talents of the moment.

From NBA trio of Gorgui Dieng, Tacko Fall and Georges Niang on the preliminary roster to rising star Brancou Badiou, Ndong insists it's a team capable of writing a new chapter in Senegal's basketball history.

"We've always had a lot of good players, but if you look at the depth our team, it was often very unbalanced," he told to FIBA.basketball from his home in Denver, Colorado.

"Our favourite players are all big men. Everybody knows in today's basketball, it's really hard to win without having guards, without having shooters.

"I was a young player [AfroBasket 2005] by that time, but I think, if [point guard] Babacar Cisse wasn’t hurt, maybe, we would have had a little bit more success."

And, that's one reason why Ndong has his money in players like and Sidy Ndir and Brancou, who currently plays for Spain giants FC Barcelona.

"[Brancou] was supposed to play with the second team, but [FC Barcelona head coach] Sarunas Jasikevicius likes him so much that he's involved him full-time in the first team," Ndong said.

"At 21 years of age, he is the kind of player that we really need. A young Senegalese guard playing for one of the biggest teams in the EuroLeague. I am going to help him grow. Maybe he doesn't have much responsibility at Barcelona but I will give him some in our national team because the faster he grows, the better for us."

In order to qualify for next year's FIBA AfroBasket, Senegal will need to finish in the first three places of their group.

"It's a pretty tough group," said the man who currently serves as one of Denver Nuggets player development coach. 

He added: "But at the end of the day, the objective is just to win games and make sure that we are in the position to qualify for the final round, and during the summer we’ll have time to  build the team and grow.

"I am expecting a really hard competition. It'll be a short tournament, we are not going to have weeks of preparation, we might have to meet in Kigali.

"Angola has been successful for the past two decades - they play together, they know each other well,  it's a small team with really good shooters. I am expecting them to be really motivated, but my idea is to have an elite defending team to use against them.

"Mozambique is an up-and-coming team, they have been doing well over the past 10 years. I am sure they are one of those team who are motivated to play against Senegal. But our focus will be on ourselves."

Boniface Ndong in action at FIBA AfroBasket 2009

As for the Kigali FIBA Buble, Ndong noted: "The idea is to have everybody there safely. I have heard great things about Rwanda. Today is perhaps one example in Africa. I am sure Rwanda will provide a great organization and I am sure FIBA took all the precautions to have the teams in the right situation."

As for the future generations of Senegalese basketball, the 43-year-old coach praised the new approach by the country's basketball federation. "Our success depends on the development of local players because not everybody has a chance to go abroad, especially smaller players," he said.

Named FIBA AfroBasket 2005 MVP, Ndong started a his coaching at Unicaja Malaga, a team he played for three seasons.

But it's his new job with his native Senegal that keeps him dreaming big.

"As much as I am a young coach, I have been preparing myself for this for the last three years because it has always been on the back of my mind," Ndong said.

"Becoming a coach was always a motivation for me. I want the best for my country. I am sure I will make a lot of mistakes, but I will make sure I do everything I can to help my country win."

FIBA