Egyptian Basketball - Past, Present and Future

SHEFFIELD (Julio Chitunda's African Message) - By the time the 2013 AfroBasket starts in Ivory Coast, it will have been 10 years since Egypt last won a medal at senior level of the African Championship for Men. However, their junior teams are giving the country hope of bringing that drought to an end.

The Pharaohs last won a bronze at the 2003 AfroBasket as host nation.

Since then, Egypt has achieved no better result than a fourth-place finish at the 2007 AfroBasket held in Angola.

They came in 10th in neighbouring Libya at the 2009 AfroBasket, before plunging to 11th at last year’s continental championship in Madagascar, their lowest finish in the country's basketball history.

This may seem a dreadful prospect for the second most victorious country - after Angola - in the history of the FIBA Africa Championship, with five gold medals, five silver and six bronze.

Undoubtedly it is not the most recommended impression of a team with Egypt’s basketball legacy.

However, Egypt is experiencing two different phases in its basketball history.

While the men's senior national team keeps struggling, their youths can’t stop thriving.

Egypt’s future is rather optimistic, if we consider the recent achievements of the country’s juniors.

In recent years, Egypt has dominated African youth tournaments.

In 2008, they won the FIBA Africa U18 Africa championship for Men - as hosts - after a thrilling 85-84 victory over archrivals Angola in Alexandria.

Later this year, Egypt will travel to Mozambique as defending champions at the U18 AfroBasket.

In 2009, they won the FIBA Africa U16 Championship for Men in Mozambique, before successfully defending their title last year at home.

Egypt crushed their opponents with big winning margins, beating Tunisia 117-67 in the Championship Game.

The defending champions booked their place in the Final by destroying Angola 106-41 in the Semi-Final.

Prior to that result, Egypt had smashed Mozambique (108-54), Algeria (94-57), South Africa (101-57) and Congo (128-33). 

Mali finished third while Angola finished fourth.

In the end, three Egyptian players - point guards Ehab Saleh, Omar Abdeen and power forward Wessam Melek - made it on the All-Tournament Team, with Algerian forward Ahmed Boutiba and Mozambican center Helton Ubisse completed the team. 

Saleh was also named the tournament's MVP. 

Egypt U16 men's national team head coach Rafik Youssef could not be more confident about his country's basketball future. 

Earlier this month he gave me his impressions of Egyptian basketball.

“The senior national team is not doing as well as it used (to),” Youssef said.

“From my point of view the federation should be courageous to make changes.

“Keeping two or three senior players and give junior players a chance is the most appropriate decision they should make.

“With that change in mind, three years is time enough for Egypt to dominate basketball in Africa.

“After last year’s Africa championship we had a few weeks break, but we are working already for the (2012 FIBA U17) World Championship in Lithuania."

For now, Egyptian youths enjoy the rewards of becoming Africa's most regular representative on the world stage over the past decade.

Two years ago, they represented the continent at the inaugural FIBA U17 World Championship held in Hamburg, Germany.

In 2009 they represented Africa in New Zealand at the FIBA U19 World Championship and repeated that feat by qualifying to last summer’s event in Latvia.

Yet again, Egypt has qualified to this year’s 12-team FIBA U17 World Championship to be staged in Kaunas, Lithuania, from June 29 to July 8.

“We have a tough group, but we (can) only be satisfied if we make it to the next round," Youssef said.

“I think that three teams in our group will make it to Semi-Final of the World Championship."

Egypt will face Australia, China, Czech Republic, France and USA in Group A of the Preliminary Round.

The top four teams from each Preliminary Round group will advance to the Quarter-Finals.

With such international experience and the export to US colleges of talents like Assem Ahmed (Minnesota State University), Mostafa Abdel Latif (Sacred Heart University) and Omar Oraby (Rice University), I could not agree more with coach Youssef.

There is hope in the country of basketball lovers.

Egypt has hosted six African nations’ tournaments since 1962 and an endless amount of youth African tournaments.

Young Egyptians have now the task of restoring the country’s legacy.

If Egypt’s current position with the senior national team looks rather bleak, its future seems much more optimistic.

With a brilliant past, a doubtful present, Egypt has a bright future.

Julio Chitunda

FIBA

FIBA’s columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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