MANILA (Philippines) - Angola make the trip to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 having undergone a generational change, with the African powers hoping the new core - including an enticing three-headed monster in the post - can carry them to a historic first top-eight showing.

Head coach Josep "Pep" Claros has a new generation on the brink of big success

The Roster

Head coach Josep "Pep" Claros should have a team that has good chemistry as four players appeared in all 12 games in the African Qualifiers and four more showed up for three of the four windows for nine games each. The big name is NBA big man Bruno Fernando, who played in three games in the August 2022 window.

Fernando will team up with Jilson Bango and Silvio Sousa - back with the national team for the first time since FIBA AfroBasket 2017 - to form a monster trio inside. Still, the most important player on the team could be point guard Childe Dundao, who will need to be an effective floor general. If he can, the Africans could have a chance of going deep into the tournament.

Childe Dundao

Dundao, Gerson Domingos, Teotonio Do and Gerson Goncalves played in all of the qualifying games so Claros has a good idea of what he can expect from each. The 24-year-old center Bango is one of the country's biggest stars. The Angolans are also likely to have a youngster or two on hand for experience down the road - likely Kevin Kokila and/or Eduardo Francisco.

The Question

Angola were one of the oldest teams at the last World Cup with Olimpio Cipriano (37 years), Carlos Morais (33), Leonel Paulo (33), Eduardo Mingas (40) and the late Reggie Moore (38) all 33 or older.

But that quintet also had collected 77 games of World Cup experience as well as 23 games in the Olympics. Those veterans are gone and the core of the qualifying campaign is a bit younger. How the new Angola generation will respond as leaders for the first time is the big question.  

Jilson Bango

The Hope

Fernando leads the team with help from Sousa and Bango in the paint and Dundao is an absolute pest on defense while also directing the troops. Coach Claros has good chemistry with the team, carrying over from the qualifying, and the Africans can put two of Italy, Dominican Republic or the Philippines behind them in the Group A standings. Angola take on Italy in their opener and will immediately see what their prospects are from the get-go. They also limited their opponents to just 60.5 points per game in the African Qualifiers. So they know how to play defense.

The Fear

Things could go badly if the young players get stage fright. There is also a major problem with size at the guard position as Dundao stands at just 1.67m (5'6") and Domingos is only 1.78m (5'10"). The opponents will undoubtedly try to take advantage of their size, or lack thereof, in the post.  Angola also shot only 27.8 percent (101 of 363) from long range in the African Qualifiers so if the guards and wings do not knock down open shots, opposing defenses may just collapse on the bigs.

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For a deeper look on Angola's journey to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, click here.

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