SHEFFIELD (Julio Chitunda's African Message) - The coaching career of Adel Tlatli with Tunisia's men's national team has become a case-study in African basketball history after being reappointed last week.

Tlatli's contract has been extended until the end of the 2015 AfroBasket.

The decision of the Tunisian Basketball Federation (FTBB) makes Tlatli the longest serving head coach on the continent where coaches tend to last little longer than the duration of an African Championship.

Tlatli first took over in 2001, but stayed in charge for only five months.

Then the FTBB re-appointed him in April 2004 and he has been in charge ever since as his continuing work has gone from strength to strength.

After missing out on qualification to AfroBasket 2003, Tunisia finished eighth in 2005, sixth in 2007, third in 2009 before they won gold in 2011 to qualify for the London Olympics.

Despite a disappointing seventh-place finish in August at AfroBasket 2013 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, where they were rated as potential winners, the FTBB thought Tlatli was the right man for the job.

In someway, Tlatli's re-appointment reflects a new African tendency to trust the national teams to local coaches.

In Abidjan, 11 of the 16 head coaches were nationals of their respective national teams, unlike previous editions when most national teams imported their tacticians.

The FTBB has shown immense trust in Tlatli, and if he helps his country to win the next edition of the AfroBasket, there is a chance of seeing Tlatli taking the team to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Over the past few years, Tlatli has endorsed international competition as a way forward to develop basketball in his country, and establish a winning mindset.

Early this year, for instance, the Tunisian play caller spent weeks at Duke University improving his coaching skills with USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

In the recent past, Tlatli and his national team spent weeks holding training around the world with a mostly home based group of players.

This practice is one of the hurdles he may face, especially when players like Salah Mejri (Real Madrid) and Makram Ben Romdhane (UCAM Murcia) are set for long weeks of competition.

Whenever Tlatli and his national start to prepare for the next AfroBasket, planning will be completely different.

"We had a long preparation period ahead of the AfroBasket 2013, and it did not work out well," he told me when I asked him what changes he hopes to make to succeed.

But he is confident he must make some adjustments within the team.

"I will keep seven or eight players for next AfroBasket and add a few young players. This is what FTBB asked me to do," he went on.

"I am looking at some Tunisian players who competed at the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship and incorporate them onto the senior team."

As we spoke last week, Tlatli was in France scouting a potential national team playmaker.

Tunisia and Angola submitted bids to host the next edition of the AfroBasket.

For Tlatli, whose country last hosted the tournament in 1987, Tunisia has chances to organise a decent tournament.

"There are four potential host cities in Tunisia, unlike Cote d'Ivoire who concentrated all games in Abidjan with limited number of practicing venues," he said.

What makes Tlatli an interesting figure to the eyes of Tunisians and the rest of the continent is his dedication to the game.

Julio Chitunda

FIBA

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