A look back at AfroBasket Women 2013

SHEFFIELD (Julio Chitunda's African Message) - African women's basketball turned a new chapter in its history.

The next will be a chapter of hope, and it will reflect in the African FIBA rankings in the next few weeks.

But, more important than statistics, is how significant these changes are for Africa women's basketball.

We will only find out the pros and cons of that change in a year's time when debutants Mozambique and Angola compete in the 2014 FIBA Word Championship for Women in Turkey.

Over the weekend, Angola won their second African title in a row after a 64-61 win over AfroBasket Women 2013 hosts Mozambique.

The expectation now is to find out whether both nations can do better than previous African representatives at the world stage.

Unlike previous squads of Senegal and Mali, most Angolans and Mozambicans players ply their trade on African continent, with the exception of Angolans Whitney Miguel and Clarisse Mpaka who played in France, although the latter has agreed terms with Angolan side Inter Clube de Luanda for the next season.

Is playing on African soil a backward to compete against world’s best outside Africa?

Judging by Angola and Mozambique's performances in Maputo it is fair to say that Africans might be able to compete against Asians, some teams from the Americas, and, perhaps, a few European teams.

I can't say the same about the USA, who remain the terroriser of African teams.

Angola showed reasonable progress since the London Games and if they keep working as they say they will, they will do a good service for Africa in Turkey.

African teams will only need to improve on a few fundamentals (they have a year to do so): avoiding excessive individual plays, raise their self-believe of being able to compete against the world's best teams and stop being overwhelmed by the magnitude of the World Championship.

These are aspects that tend to jeopardise African teams' chances on the international stage.

Maputo witnessed some exceptional basketball moments, including buzzer-beating shots (Leia Dongue, Marie Sy), some pick-and-roll very well executed (Clarisse Machanguana excelled), a lot of competitiveness spirit (Cameroon did better than everyone), self-belief (all Angolans I spoke to since Day 1 believed they would win gold) and, more importantly, fair-play spirit.

But what amazed me the most in Maputo was the passion and potential shown by some relatively unknown names like Astride Gano (Cameroon), Anabela Cossa (Mozambique), Clarisse Mpaka (Angola), Reem Osama (Egypt), Vandell Andrade (Cape Verde), Ikbal Chenaf (Algeria), Aminata Diop (Senegal), Sara Ogoke (Nigeria) and Kariata Diaby (Cote d’Ivoire).

In comparison to two years ago, Mozambican Dongue and Angolans Nadir Manuel and Luisa Tomas improved their game visibly.

Dongue is not only a dominant force in the paint, she can shoot from outside too.

Manuel is now a completely improved player since the 2012 Olympics, especially with her ball-handling and jump shot.

And Tomas' footwork fundamentals and jumper were simply too good for her defenders.

The All-Tournament Team consisted of Nacissela Mauricio (Angola), Astou Traore (Senegal), Deolinda Ngulela, Dongue (Mozambique) and Ramses Lonlack (Cameroon).

Mauricio was named the tournament's MVP.

Another highlight of the tournament was Senegal's failure to secure their fifth consecutive appearance at the FIBA World Championship for Women, as well as Mozambique having to wait a few more years to win Africa women's flagship tournament at home.

Let these two teams' preparations for Turkey 2014 begin sooner rather than later.

Julio Chitunda

FIBA

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