Going to battle without Isom

SHEFFIELD (Julio Chitunda's African Message) - Competing at this year's edition of the African Champions Cup (ACC) without Cedric Isom could be the toughest challenge for ACC reigning champions Primeiro D'Agosto.

Isom is not just the team's starting shooting guard. He is also the man who propelled the Angolan side to their eighth continental title last December in Sousse, Tunisia thanks to a 68-61 win over hosts Etoile Sportive du Sahel.

In that frenzied encounter - which saw local fans throw objects on the court and forced officials to stop the game with a few seconds remaining - Isom had a performance for the ages.

The 1.88m guard was D'Agosto's only player to score in double figures, exploding for 35 points - more than half of his team's total (68) - to go along with 11 rebounds and 2 assists. Not surprisingly, he was named the tournament's MVP.

This year, however, the USA-born Isom won't be travelling to Tunisia's capital of Tunis as he is currently recovering from a left ankle injury.

After watching D'Agosto playing against Sporting de Benguela this past weekend, it became clear to me that head coach Paulo Macedo has a lot of work to do at guard position.

Surprisingly - or maybe not - D'Agosto trailed 42-38 at the break after a poor shooting first half.

To make matters worse, neither Angolan international Armando Costa nor Edmir Lucas managed to control D'Agosto's ball movement over the course of the first two quarters. However, D'Agosto showed a lot of heart in the paint and improved in the second half to seal a 93-71 win.

At times, seeing this D'Agosto team play without Isom seemed like watching a team  in rebuilding mode and in serious need of a leader.

After all, Isom was not only crowned the 2013 ACC's MVP but also headlined the All-Tournament Team along with Kevin Bridgewater (Etoile Sportive du Sahel), Hamdi Braa (Sporting Alexandria), Eduardo Mingas (Libolo) and his D'Agosto team-mate Joaquim Gomes.

"We are the team to beat because all teams will be looking at us with the desire of stopping us. It is not easy to win eight African titles," Macedo told me before explaining that his team is counting on Isom's return to action to come in January.

Nevertheless, Macedo said his team is "getting ready to win the trophy once again."

Whatever D'Agosto accomplish in Tunis - where the competition will be staged from 12 to 21 December - Isom's name is likely to come up.

The team secured qualification for FIBA Africa's only club competition along with Angolan counterparts Recreativo do Libolo after finishing in the top-two of the FIBA Africa Zone 6 event held last week in Maputo, Mozambique.

FIBA Africa Zone 1 representatives will be determined at a qualifier running from 26 November to 2 December in Rades, Tunisia.

For now nine African teams are already qualified for the 12-team ACC tournament. They are: Club Africain (Tunisia), Abidjan Basket Club (Cote d'Ivoire), Mark Mentors (Nigeria), Kings Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), AS Mazembe (DR Congo), Urunani (Burundi), Recreativo Libolo and D’Agosto (Angola) and BCM Mayotte (Mauritius).

Julio Chitunda

FIBA

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