FIBA Basketball
ANG - Angola's future in young hands
LUANDA (FIBA World Championship) - Africa's leading basketball country could be about to lose one of its most famous sons.Miguel Lutonda, 34, a long-time player for the national side - he helped Angola win their eighth Africa title this summer - is coming to the end of a glorious career and he admits next year's FIBA World Chapionship in Japan is likely to be his last."I've been connected
LUANDA (FIBA World Championship) - Africa's leading basketball country could be about to lose one of its most famous sons.
Miguel Lutonda, 34, a long-time player for the national side - he helped Angola win their eighth Africa title this summer - is coming to the end of a glorious career and he admits next year's FIBA World Chapionship in Japan is likely to be his last.
"I've been connected to basketball since I was 15," he said to PA Sport. "After the World Championship and the next FIBA Africa Championship, I'll make a decision about what I am going to do.
"We've got new, talented players who will safeguard Angola's basketball in the future. The more they compete on international level, the better for Angola's aspirations.
"Also, in our country's streets, you can see the youth showing their capabilities with a basketball."
Exciting times indeed, then, for Angola.
Mario Palma, the head coach of Angola, will be optimistic as he has already been preparing for the future.
Olimpio Cipriano, Joaquim Gomes, Armando Costa, Carlos Almeida, Victor Muzadi, Eduardo Mingas, Carlos Morais and Abdel Boukar all have experience in the national team set-up. None have hit their prime.
"I am confident we have players coming through around the country," Lutonda said. "Also, bigger and taller players might be a reality (for Angola) in the near future."
International game improves in Africa
Lutonda won his fourth Africa title, a gold medal secured after a 70-61 triumph over Senegal in August.
Only the 37-year-old Angelo Vitoriano has achieved more as he has been a member of eight of Angola's championship winning sides.
Every year, Lutonda says, it gets tougher to win.
"I feel that this was the most competitive Africa Championship I've played," Lutonda said.
"We needed some cold blood to overcome Nigeria in the semi-final (67-62) and also in the final against Senegal. We needed to play our best game because Senegal forced us to do it. Those two teams did their homework very well and created a lot of trouble for us."
Lutonda says was the incorporation of new players into the Angola squad, along with the improvement of other teams, is why this tournament was not an easy one.
"Gradually, we've been seeing more contenders, better teams, mainly, because some teams have got players in some very competitive leagues around the world," said Lutonda, an Angola co-captain.
"In the semi-final win over Nigeria, Mario Palma's experience was crucial. He felt the game slipping out of his players' hands and changed the way the game was played.
"He asked for a timeout a couple of seconds before the end and everything definitely changed from that point for the better.
"I was fouled on a rebound and I've had chance to score two free throws. That was the end of a very hard game in which we'd suffered, but won so we could eventually celebrate our eighth African title."
The 1.89m poing guard says Angola's goal in Japan at the FIBA World Championship is to finish higher in the table than the 11th in Indianapolis, where there were 16 teams.
One never knows. Maybe this is the year an African team goes even further and reaches the podium.
"In the last World Championship in Indianapolis, we won two games (over China and Canada) and we had phenomenal games against Brazil and Puerto Rico," Lutonda said, who is anxious to play down his team's chances.
"For the World Championship in Japan, we could even do better. Sixth or eighth position would suit us."
By Julio Chitunda, PA Sport Exclusively for FIBA
Miguel Lutonda, 34, a long-time player for the national side - he helped Angola win their eighth Africa title this summer - is coming to the end of a glorious career and he admits next year's FIBA World Chapionship in Japan is likely to be his last.
"I've been connected to basketball since I was 15," he said to PA Sport. "After the World Championship and the next FIBA Africa Championship, I'll make a decision about what I am going to do.
"We've got new, talented players who will safeguard Angola's basketball in the future. The more they compete on international level, the better for Angola's aspirations.
"Also, in our country's streets, you can see the youth showing their capabilities with a basketball."
Exciting times indeed, then, for Angola.
Mario Palma, the head coach of Angola, will be optimistic as he has already been preparing for the future.
Olimpio Cipriano, Joaquim Gomes, Armando Costa, Carlos Almeida, Victor Muzadi, Eduardo Mingas, Carlos Morais and Abdel Boukar all have experience in the national team set-up. None have hit their prime.
"I am confident we have players coming through around the country," Lutonda said. "Also, bigger and taller players might be a reality (for Angola) in the near future."
International game improves in Africa
Lutonda won his fourth Africa title, a gold medal secured after a 70-61 triumph over Senegal in August.
Only the 37-year-old Angelo Vitoriano has achieved more as he has been a member of eight of Angola's championship winning sides.
Every year, Lutonda says, it gets tougher to win.
"I feel that this was the most competitive Africa Championship I've played," Lutonda said.
"We needed some cold blood to overcome Nigeria in the semi-final (67-62) and also in the final against Senegal. We needed to play our best game because Senegal forced us to do it. Those two teams did their homework very well and created a lot of trouble for us."
Lutonda says was the incorporation of new players into the Angola squad, along with the improvement of other teams, is why this tournament was not an easy one.
"Gradually, we've been seeing more contenders, better teams, mainly, because some teams have got players in some very competitive leagues around the world," said Lutonda, an Angola co-captain.
"In the semi-final win over Nigeria, Mario Palma's experience was crucial. He felt the game slipping out of his players' hands and changed the way the game was played.
"He asked for a timeout a couple of seconds before the end and everything definitely changed from that point for the better.
"I was fouled on a rebound and I've had chance to score two free throws. That was the end of a very hard game in which we'd suffered, but won so we could eventually celebrate our eighth African title."
The 1.89m poing guard says Angola's goal in Japan at the FIBA World Championship is to finish higher in the table than the 11th in Indianapolis, where there were 16 teams.
One never knows. Maybe this is the year an African team goes even further and reaches the podium.
"In the last World Championship in Indianapolis, we won two games (over China and Canada) and we had phenomenal games against Brazil and Puerto Rico," Lutonda said, who is anxious to play down his team's chances.
"For the World Championship in Japan, we could even do better. Sixth or eighth position would suit us."
By Julio Chitunda, PA Sport Exclusively for FIBA