RADES (Tunisia) - When Royal Ivey took over the coaching role of South Sudan, he was clear on how he wanted his side to play.
Ivey wanted South Sudan to play a brand of basketball that favours pace, spacing, and outside shooting, which was not common on the continent. In his roster construction, outside shooting has been a priority, including the frontcourt.
And as the second round of the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers got underway at Salle Multidisciplinaire de Radès, in Tunisia, the Bright Stars did not shy away from that brand of basketball, recording an 81-71 win over Guinea.
Quick Offense
At the start of the game, Guinea head coach Corey Alan Frazier wanted his side to push the ball, but in a way, he was playing a brand that South Sudan has been built for.
Quick transition offence and halfcourt spacing are foundations of South Sudan basketball, and it showed right from the opening quarter.
JT Thor, Peter Jok, Carlik Jones and Lok Wur all cashed open outside looks, and the foundation was set.
A 25-point first quarter was followed by a better scoring second in which the Bright Stars netted 28 points.
“I feel it was a risk we chose to take. Looking at film from the games they played before we saw that they were not really a good transition defense team that is why we were trying to push and take our chances but we missed some shots,” Frazier said of the decision.
Nuni Omoti, Wanyen Gabriel and Majok Deng created havoc on the inside that got Abdoulaye Sy in early foul trouble as South Sudan tore through Guineas man to man.
Aggressive Defense
The Bright Stars are not built on offense alone but also aggressive defense - quick feet and active hands. It is that defense which limited Guinea to 21.05% from the field in the first half and 3-of-18 from 3-point range.
The defense kept Guinea at bay throughout the first half. Sekou Dounbouya and Mamadi Diakite away from the basket but only for the first half.
Guinea’s second-half fight in vain
In the third quarter, Guinea slowed down the game and found a lot of success on both ends of the floor. On the defensive end, South Sudan struggled against the zone and on offense, shots started falling.
Guinea scored 10 unanswered points to spark a run that cut the lead to 10 (55-45) and that set the tone for the rest of the half.
“We played a little flat in the second half. The fact that the coach played zone the whole second half is testament to my players because when they played man, they couldn't guard us. Kudos to the coach for making that adjustment and being resilient,” coach Ivey said.
In the fourth quarter, Guinea pulled the game to within four points but Jones who finished with team high 18 points took over to seal victory for South Sudan.
South Sudan have improved their record to 5-2 while Guinea are now 4-3.
FIBA