SEN - Savane: 'It's time for Senegal to get it together really quick'

BAMBERG (ULEB Cup) - Senegal finished the 2006 FIBA World Championship with five losses in as many Group D games in Sapporo.

Things certainly did not go according to plan.

The Africans’ promising preparations took a serious turn for the worse with a series of injuries and personnel problems in the federation, which resulted in the last-minute appointment of Moustapha Gaye as coach and other top players turning their back on the national team.

Playing without NBA interior forces Boniface N'Dong and DeSagana Diop, forward Sitapha Savane was one who was forced to step up. He ended up as Senegal's third-leading scorer, averaging 8.6 points as well as 3.6 rebounds.

Savane played college basketball at the US Naval Academy but last year, he truly shot to prominence in Spain with Gran Canaria Grupo Dunas.

He is still with the Canary Islands outfit and has helped them to a 9-8 record this season, which is tied for seventh best in the ACB.

Savane is averaging 7.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in his third year with the club and seventh season in Spain.

The 28-year-old Dakar native has also helped Gran Canaria reach the Final 16 of the ULEB Cup.

Savane spoke to David Hein on behalf of FIBA after Gran Canaria's ULEB Cup loss at Brose Baskets Bamberg on Tuesday.

FIBA: Sitapha, what happened out there tonight, you guys didn't shoot very well, hitting just 18 of your 60 shots from the floor?
Savane: "We were never consistent enough on offense to get the job done on the road. We know it's pretty hard winning on the road in ULEB and we made it more difficult for ourselves. Our defense can only hold for so long and eventually they found some openings. So it's a lesson to learn and now we just have to get ready for the next round."

FIBA: Now that the first round is over with a 5-5 mark, how pleased is the team with their performance in the competition so far?
Savane: "It's a mixed balance. We passed the first round so we're happy about that. But we played a lot of games below our level. And now it's time for the even more serious stuff and we know playing a two-game series, you can't afford to slip up."

FIBA: Where do you go from here now?
Savane: "Well, we head back to Spain and have a big ACB game in Vitoria against Tau. And then get ready for who we play in the next round of the ULEB Cup. And just keep going along in this ULEB Cup."

FIBA: I know you're in the middle of the ACB and ULEB Cup seasons, but I wanted to get your thoughts on Senegal's disappointing performance at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan.
Savane: "It was a really rough summer with the Senegal national team because as it was well-documented the preparation was totally botched. There were some injuries and then for the guys who did come there was really a lack of organisation on the part of the federation and the sports ministry. And at this level you pay for that. You really get what you put in. And when you don't have a correct preparation that's the result you have. And it's sad because there's potential. But if things keep going this way, players will stop coming to the national team and the team will never really fulfil its potential."

FIBA: Have you and other Senegal national team players been in contact with the federation at all since the FIBA World Championship?
Savane: "Since the World Championship, personally, I have received no phone call from the federation and no kind of official communication from them. I think they're doing a lot of changes back there and I imagine they're waiting to get that done first before they get in touch with the players."

FIBA: Are you disappointed that you haven't been contacted at all?
Savane: "I'm extremely disappointed because we talked a lot this summer and spent a lot of time and energy discussing all the changes that needed to be made. We're the players. We play abroad in the most professional leagues from the NBA all the way down to Germany and what not. And these things happen and you feel that you have a lot of input but it's not being used. And it's a shame because smaller countries with fewer resources should use all the ones they do have. But that's not the situation, and that's the most disappointing thing for me."

FIBA: What's the biggest thing you'd tell them?
Savane: "I'd tell them it's time to get it together really quick because we have another summer coming up with the team and if they think they can wait until the last second to get moving, they're going to find themselves with no players in hand. And the ones who are there will have to go through the same situations."

FIBA: Last question about the 2007 FIBA Africa Championship in Angola. You hoping to make it there in August?
Savane: "It's really far from there right now. And it's hard since I really haven't talked to anybody from the federation. The first thing obviously is to be healthy because it's quite important. For example this season a lot of us came into the season with some injuries and it's affected a lot of players I've talked to in their performance in the regular season. So that's the first step. The second step is seeing if the federation makes the changes that we had asked for, and from there each person will have to make his own decision."

David Hein, FIBA