Najah seeks national team glory after Morocco League title

CASABLANCA (AfroBasket 2015) - Abderrahim Najah plays a special role for Morocco, and he continues to make sure to remain relevant.

Early this month, Najah and three of his national team colleagues - Abdelhakim Zouita, Zakaria El Masbahi and Soufiane Kourodu - sparked AS Sale to Morocco's national championship title after trouncing IRT Tanger 86-50 in the final.

Although it was AS Sale's consecutive title, Najah feels it is time to move on and bring that success to the national team.

And, taking a closer at how Morocco's senior team has evolved over the course of the past few years, it becomes clear where Najah stands in Morocco ranks.

He has become one of Morocco's offensive weapons, averaging more than 12 points per game at the last two editions of the African Championship.

Both Najah and El Masbahi are two of the few players who have featured Morocco in the last four AfroBasket tournaments.

And, judging by Najah's latest performances, he looks headed for his fifth consecutive AfroBasket appearance this summer, with the 16-team tournament to take place in Tunis and Nabeul, Tunisia from 19-30 August.

In February, Najah, Zouita, and Kourodu each played crucial roles as Morocco booked their place in Africa's elite competition, after beating neighbouring Algerian in Africa Zone 1 qualifiers.

"I just want to go there and help Morocco win as many as games as possible," he said to FIBA.com.

The 30-year-old power forward has not missed an African Championship since making his debut with the senior team as a 22-year-old at AfroBasket 2007, but insists he is yet to see Morocco where he feels they belong - in the top four of Africa.

But reaching the Semi-Finals in Tunisia will require a lot more than just passion for Morocco.

The team has yet to announce its head coach and the delay could mean a major step backwards in the country's aspirations at AfroBasket 2015.

"Looking back at our AfroBasket experience, it is a tough competition," Najah recalled. "We need around 15 preparation games in order to reach a good competitive level."

"My main concern right now is the fact we don't have a coach and we are not practising as a group. I haven't played a basketball game since the end of the national championship," pointed out the 1.95m forward.

"Because of the delay in announcing the national team coaching staff, I think we should just work with a local coach, who knows the players as well as our style of play because there is not much time left until the AfroBasket. We have short time to prepare, so, I think a foreign coach would take longer to adapt to us."

Although Morocco have been drawn in Group B alongside title contenders and defending champions Angola and Senegal, he remains upbeat about their chances.

"We know those teams well," said Najah, who has faced both on a number of occasions.

Mozambique, the other Group B opponent is new to Najah although Morocco have a 2-0 advantage (2001 and 2005) in the head-to-head.

Najah, who is renowned for his impressive rebounding ability, went on: "We can't do much if we don't have adequate preparation because we have tough opponents.

If we plan our preparations the right way, we can beat any of these teams. - Najah

"We beat a good Senegal team in 2009 - they had Boniface N'Dong - but we fell short against them in Madagascar (2011) as we were exhausted because of the Ramadan. Still, we had a close game against Angola.

"Angola is a good team, but after playing against them so many times, and face some of their clubs in the African Champions Cup, I honestly believe we can beat them too. But we need to be ready."

It is the second time since 1987 that the continental showdown takes place in the northernmost country of Africa.

It is an opportunity for Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia show dominance in the region, says Najah.

"It would be good if North African teams could reach at least the Quarter-Finals. It would show the strength of basketball in the region," said the 30-year-old.

"After Tunisia won the title in 2011 and Egypt reached the Finals two years ago, I think North African teams have bigger chances in this African Championship.

"But if you ask me which teams have realistic chances to compete for the title in this AfroBasket, I probably would pick Tunisia, Angola, Nigeria, Cameroon and, of course, Morocco."

FIBA