MLI - Youngsters waiting in the wings

BAMAKO (Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - When Mali begin their preparations for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women in early March, there are likely to be a couple of new faces in the squad.

Frenchman Herve Coudray, who coached the Africans at the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women and last year at the Afrobasket Women and should discover this week if he is to continue in the role, says Mali-based Fanta Charles Guindo and Sadio Konate stand a good chance of being called into the preliminary squad.

“There are some good young players in Mali that may fit well into the national team,” Coudray said to FIBA.com.

“Unlike some media reports, the majority of the team players are home-based, and they are very hard-working players.”

There are also 19-year-olds Astan Dabo and Aissata Boubacar Maiga, and 22-year-old Naignouma Coulibaly.

All three have been in the national team the last two summers.

Dabo is the tallest girl in the Mali team at 2.03m and played just under 10 minutes per contest at the Afrobasket in Mali.

She competes in France’s second division with Reims.

Coulibaly plays for Coudray at Mondeville in France and has enjoyed some big games in both the domestic league, and the EuroCup Women.

The country’s best known player the past several years because of her WNBA and EuroLeague Women experience, Hamchetou Maiga Ba.

Her involvement with the national team moving forward is uncertain since she turns 34 in April and became a mother last year.

One of the aims of Mali is to improve offensively, a department they struggled in last year when hosting the Afrobasket.

Coudray knows the easier path to the London Games was at the Afrobasket, which Mali had to win.

They were beaten by eventual champions Angola in the Semi-Finals and then beat Nigeria in the battle for third place to reach the OQT.

Even with five places on offer for the Olympics at the qualifying tournament, the competition will be stiffer and thus make advancing much harder.

Nevertheless, he says there are reasons to be optimistic about Mali basketball.

“Mali is a very athletic, tall team,” Coudray said.

“We need backcourt players - point guards and shooting guards.

“I know there are some young players that may well fit these positions for us.”

“I think it is definitely time to give young players an opportunity to show how good they can be and prove that they can help Mali.”

Mali will take on France and Canada in Group D of the OQT.

FIBA