Tunisia hand over U19 reins to Ben Ameur

TUNIS (2015 FIBA U19 World Championship) - Tunisian basketball officials have named Khelil Ben Ameur as the new head coach for the country's team at the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship.

Ben Ameur takes over from Sofiene Mrabet, who led the Tunisians to a second-place finish at the 2014 FIBA Africa U18 Championship to qualify for the upcoming tournament in Heraklion (Crete), Greece (27 June-5 July).

Ben Ameur coached Tunisia at the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship, the last time the country appeared at the tournament.

"It's a nice event and we are happy to come back again to participate in the championship," said the 57-year-old.

The northern Africans slumped to last place and an 0-5 record four years ago in Latvia, but a major reason for that was an injury just five minutes into the first game to leader Mohamed Ammar, who missed the remainder of the tournament.

Ben Ameur admits there is a lot of work to do with the current U19 crop, with which he began working in December. 

The coach noted that because of exams for a number of his players, he will only have about two weeks of preparations with the full squad. Ben Ameur also said Tunisia will enter the tournament in Greece without a real center.

"We have to change our philosophy of playing. We have to play fast and run the court. We cannot rely on one or two players. We all need to play as a team together," he warned.

Tunisia have been drawn into Group C in Heraklion (Crete) along with Australia, Italy and Canada.

"It's a hard group. Our first objective is to play hard and a good basketball. We know they are big teams, but we have to work hard for 40 minutes," Ben Ameur said.

The coach said having players such as Younes Saidani and Achref Gannouni playing abroad will help the Tunisian level improve over the long haul.

"The difference between European and African basketball is very big. But our attention and objective is to become better and play closer to the European level," the coach said.

FIBA