CIV - Denis wants Elephants to revisit past glories

PARIS (Afrobasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - The Ivory Coast have turned to a familiar name in an attempt to return to the summit of African basketball.

Paris Levallois coach Christophe Denis, whose father was on the technical staff 26 years ago, has been put in charge.

The Ivory Coast last won an Afrobasket title in 1985 with an 84-73 triumph over Angola.

Four years before, they dominated the tournament in Somalia and beat Egypt in the gold-medal game, 81-65.

Ivory Coast also have three silver medals (1978, 1980 and 2009) in their history.

Denis believes another Afrobasket title is long overdue.

"Ivory Coast players need to get what they deserve, which is winning the Afrobasket," the 39-year-old Denis said to FIBA.com.

"Qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Spain is equally one of our objectives."

Indeed.

With the country hosting Afrobasket 2013, the federation and Denis are thinking about one result and one result only.

They're thinking about the championship, and qualifying for the first FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

Spanish coach Natxo Lezcano led the Elephants to a fourth-place finish at Afrobasket 2011 Semi-Final in Madagascar last year, one spot outside the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament spots.

Nigeria beat Lezcano's side, 76-69, in the bronze-medal game.

They and Angola will represent Africa in Caracas, Venezuela, for the 12-team OQT, where three places for the London Games will be on offer.

The Ivory Coast federation ultimately decided not to extend Lezcano's contract and were successful in bringing Denis to the helm.

Raising eyebrows

To bring success to Abidjan is very important to Denis, who lived in the country from the age of two to 13 while his dad, Francis Denis, coached there.

Christophe Denis calls the African nation "my second country."

"For sure, what we want as the host nation is to win the tournament (Afrobasket)," Denis said.

"This is our goal."

There are reasons to believe he will bring desired results.

Denis is the head coach of French side Paris Levallois in the Ligue Nationale de Basket and the team is sixth in the standings.

"We (Paris) will seek to go as far as we are allowed to (in the post-season)," he said.

"We don't want to win only one game in the play-offs.

"We want more than that."

Aware of his past links with the country, the Ivory Coast became interested in hiring him.

The federation's vice president, former international Arsene Ade Mensah, approached Denis after watching Paris play.

Mensah and Denis have known each other from their days as players on the same Antibes junior team.

This summer

Despite having his mind on matters in France right now, Denis admits he has one eye on his national team job.

He says that he already has a plan to start his Ivorian mission.

In June, the national team will have a four-week training camp, during which two weeks will be spent in France and some days in Tunisia - the home of the Afrobasket 2011 champions.

Ivory Coast will play a warm-up game against France's national team in Paris in late June and around that time, Ivory Coast also expect to go up against Angola.

Denis expects to have a lot of talent at his disposal.

First of all, he says he plans to see "players of great potential and quality."

"I know there are plenty of them playing in Europe such as Mouloukou Diabate, Mohamed Kone, Pape Philippe-Amagou," he said.

"I know there are few more in the USA."

Developing a winning mentality

"Being talented is not enough," he said.

"One needs a big heart and sacrifice in order to win games, and this is what we will be working on.

"They had fantastic results in previous editions of the Afrobasket without having adequate preparation time. This gives us hope.

"If we work well and in time, I am sure we will do even better.

"We need to focus on motivating our players. As the host nation, we will do our best to win Afrobasket 2013."

As for how long Denis runs the team, he said: "Initially, I have signed a contract for the Afrobasket and to qualify the team to Spain 2014.

"As the federation wants to keep consistency in the coaching staff, we may stay longer."

Denis is thrilled to be in charge of the national team.

"This is a symbolic moment in my coaching career," he said.

"It is an honor to coach my second country.

"My father was one of the coaches along with Alphonse Bile in the African Championship 1985."

Ivory Coast are 37th in the FIBA World Rankings, just below Senegal, and fourth in Africa rankings.

Angola are top, followed by Nigeria.


FIBA