Why Tunisia failed at AfroBasket 2013

SHEFFIELD (Julio Chitunda's African Message) - At first glance, it is really hard to find an easy explanation for Tunisia's failure at AfroBasket 2013, especially when they averaged almost the same figures in comparison to two years ago when they won their first African title.

But when a team shoots the lowest free-throw percentage (50%) of the tournament - only the Republic of Congo had similar percentage - and turn the ball over as many times in the decisive Eight-Finals Round game against Egypt, it becomes clear why Tunisia finished ninth and failed to secure one of the three places on offer for African teams for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Tunisia had plenty of reasons to be confident as they entered this year's edition of the AfroBasket.

They had an eight-game winning streak in the continental championship and began their preparations early with head coach Adel Tlatli's selecting nine of the 12 players from the team that won gold in Madagascar in 2011. They added Zied Channufi, Omar Mouhli and Nizar Knioua, a trio of players who boosted Tunisia's three-point shooting percentage - the second highest in Abidjan, behind Burkina Faso.

However, for some reason, things did not work out as planned, despite Tunisia's unbeaten run in the Preliminary Round.

Starting with their opening win against Morocco - decided at the very end - followed by an overtime win over Rwanda, Tunisia struggled to stay atop and failed to near convincing wins.

So, minutes after their 77-67 setback against Egypt that eliminated Tunisia from the tournament, I asked both coach Tlatli and Marouan Kechrid to share their thoughts of the tournament with me.

Coach Tlatli said: "This is sport. If you think you are the best team, and you are unbeaten, you are in the wrong tournament.

"Disappointed? Yes.

"I don't know why (of Tunisia’s performance) because we had a good preparation, maybe it was too long.

"It is our own responsibility for the failure,” he explained.

Kechrid has been a member of Tunisia's team and has followed their progress since he first represented the country at AfroBasket 2005.

He felt something went terribly wrong that deserves some reflection.

"It is very hard to explain what has just happened to us," he told me.

"In theory Tunisia is better than Egypt, but the reality is if you don't play well and fail to stick with your game plan you can't win basketball games.

"I must admit Egypt played better than Tunisia.

"I am not so sure if this was because of the long preparation. Maybe, I don't know.

"In the last three games, most players did not feel well.

"We usually play as a team. We don’t have a star player who makes significant impact. We are a group of players who work together throughout the game.

"We are not the kind of team who plays pick and roll or one-on-one.

"Our game is based on ball movement.

"The reason we lost is because we rushed things up. By the second pass, we rushed to the basket. Egypt closed the paint area, and made the most of the fast breaks for easy points," Kechrid added.

In AfroBasket history, not a single reigning champion had ever finished worse than seventh at the next edition of the championship.

Tunisia's ninth-place finish is the lowest a defending champion has ever finished in the past three decades in AfroBasket competition.

Julio Chitunda

FIBA

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