Looking to improve their current ranking in the FIBA world standings, Senegal started to train for the upcoming AfroBasket Qualifiers 6 months from now. The tournament will take place at Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo as confirmed by FIBA.
According to from a separate report from FIBA, they will be competing at the qualifiers without most of their players that played for them during the FIBA Olympic Qualifiers in Manila. The team also revealed their lineup for the tourney.
The 14-man team will be consist of Abdou Ba, Abdoulaye Coulibaly, Madiara Dieng, Mamadou Lamine Diop, Pape Moustapha Diop, Mouhamed Diop, Pape Faye, Ngor Goudiaby, Abdou Karim Kebe, Ibrahima Niang and Babacar Traore. The only guard Louis Adams and Serigne Gueye were the only members left in the lineup that competed in the Olympic Qualifiers.
Leading scorer Maurice Ndour is currently signed with the New York Knicks while their 7-foot center Hamady N'Diaye just recently signed with Bnei Herzliya in Israel. The 24-year old Ndour averaged 15 points and 10.5 boards per game with the Senegalese team and N'Diaye, the Minnesota Timberwolves 56th selection of the 2010 NBA Draft, took care of rebounding, averaging 6.5 a game.
Gorgui Dieng, who also donned the green and yellow in Spain during FIBA Basketball World Cup, is also playing significant minutes with the Wolves. His team is currently at the 13th spot in the Western Conference with 22-35 card.
The training with the Malian National Team will be on March 19, 2017, at Bamako, Mali, and the Senegalese will have a taste of their own home-court advantage in Dakar the following week.
Adams, who played point at the South Carolina State cannot hide his excitement in representing his country anew. "The team looks good, but it could get better when the foreign-based players join in," added the 6-foot-1 speedster.
"I am pleased with the way my players worked in the first session. They are enthusiastic and are prepared to work hard throughout the preparations," Assistant coach Dame Diouf praised his team that mostly consists of local players. Diouf will be handling the team at the training camp as their Spanish coach Porfirio Fisac will join them at the latter part.
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