Ouagadougou new heroes

SHEFFIELD (Julio Chitunda’s African Message) - Attracting both Europe and USA-based players has proven to be a successful formula for some African national teams determined to make basketball history.  

Nigeria put together their best overseas-based players and surprised the world by qualifying for the London Games after a successful campaign at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Men.

In early July, Frenchman Jean-Paul Rebatet, the newly-appointed Burkina Faso men's national team head coach, made headlines after helping his team qualifying for their first Afrobasket ever.

He recruited France and Belgium-based Burkinabe players and the result was a unique moment in the country’s basketball history.

Burkina Faso’s dream came true after a double qualifying contest against Togo in the Burkinabese capital city of Ouagadougou. A 74-57 win in Game 1 and a 59-68 loss in Game 2 were good enough to reach the country’s highest basketball moment.

For now it is all smiles in Ouagadougou as Burkina Faso secured a place to square off against the top African teams.

Afrobasket 2013 hosts Ivory Coast, African champions Tunisia, along with Angola, Nigeria, Morocco and Algeria are all confirmed, and the remaining nine places will be filled in the upcoming months.

The Burkinabes will be arriving in neighbouring Abidjan, the setting of the tournament, as underdogs because very few expected to see a team with no Afrobasket history make it to the continent's most important competition.

Should they follow last year’s Afrobasket debutant Chad, who managed to get a win (63-62 over Togo) and do likewise or better, they will have plenty of reasons to be happy.

Not long ago, for some Burkinabes, names like Moussa Ouattara, Mamadou Sawadogo, Joris Bado, Jean Victor Traore and his brother Henry Traore meant very little.That was until early July, the moment they entered the country’s basketball history.

They are now the new national heroes who are easily recognisable in the streets of Ouagadougou.

Although Victor Traore, a player based in France, made his appearance against Togo wearing a mask after undergoing an eye treatment, he immediately became a household name, averaging 24 points per game. He is a 2.04m (6’8’’) forward, who plays currently for French side ABC Angers, in the Nationale Masculine (NM1) championship.

Meanwhile, it is Rebatet’s persistence that raised eyebrows.

He might be unknown in the country, but his background speaks for itself. He knows well what African basketball is made of after having coached Morocco's national team for four years until 2008.

Rebatet coached Gabon's U18 national team in 2010, and also Central African Republic men’s team.

Qualifying Burkina Faso to the FIBA Africa championship shows that Rebatet knows how to navigate in African waters, after discovering a bunch of talented players.

This historic moment for Burkinabe basketball comes as Nigeria (3rd place in the 2011 Afrobasket) and hosts Ivory Coast, the two strongest contenders in Africa zone III, are already qualified.

However, a bigger challenge may come for Burkina Faso should those two national teams need to qualify to future Afrobasket tournaments.

Beyond his talented team, coach Rebatet may strengthen his interior game should USA college player Kader Tapsoba join the national team.

Tapsoba, a 24-year-old center at the University of Texas Tech, is well-regarded for his defensive abilities.

Rabatet has a year ahead of him to draw a plan on how to face the African giants in Abidjan, but he showed some frustration after the qualification as Burkina Faso “would like to show other qualities before going to the Afrobasket,” he said.

Moussa Ouattara, the team's captain said they fought with heart and he is really pleased with his teammates.

Joris Bado, one of the new additions to the national team admitted that it will be difficult to come up against African powerhouse, and assured his countrymen and women that they “will not be ridiculous in Abidjan. They [opponents] are not supermen.”

“It is the commitment of the sides that will make the difference,” he said.

As Burkina Faso secure their 2013 Afrobasket ticket, Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and hosts Cape Verde on Sunday tipped off an Africa zone II 10-day qualifying tournament in capital city of Praia.

Nevertheless, attracting overseas-based players to represent a national team is vital for some countries’ basketball development, but I am not sure whether it will helps home-based players progress if they don’t play internationally.  

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.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.