Cote d'Ivoire: Only undefeated team in Africa, World Cup qualification getting closer

 

ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - The coast is getting clearer with the horizon seemingly smiling for the Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire in the race for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

As it stands at the moment, Cote d'Ivoire remain the only undefeated team in the African Qualifiers following South Sudan's first defeat on Friday in Monastir.

With a record six wins from six games so far they are getting closer and closer to qualifying to the World Cup scheduled to take place from August 25th to September 10th, 2023 in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines, the Ivorians are flying.

Though, many would expect that Cote d'Ivoire should be counting their chicks by now but not for Coach Dejan Prokic and his wards.

The Serbian would rather not do so as he seeks to be sure before popping the champaign.

He stated during the post match press conference after the victory over Nigeria - their first triumph in Group E - that he is amazed by the efforts of his team and the energy they bring to the game.

"These guys even before I was their coach proved that they can play basketball. And they got a lot of wins. And I am proud to be their coach. They are experienced players and they are aware that you have to go step by step. It’s not just game by game, it’s offense by offense and defense by defense.

"They’re experienced and they’re doing very well on the court. They are trying to put everything they have on the court. I have to admit that against Nigeria, they created some things on offense that I cannot say were part of some game plan. This is what you get when you have experienced players."

Reminded that his team coasting home and safe to the qualifiers, Coach Prokic would have none of that. "No, I cannot say that we are safe. I want to say that we go step by step, game by game. And I think the players are aware of that. That is the game plan," he offered while thanking the home fans for their support.

"I really want to say thank you to the great crowd today in the gym. That was amazing. I played some games in Belgrade where there is something like this, or in Ljubljana when there are big games. But this today was amazing and big thank you to every fan who was in the gym."

"These guys have this attitude towards defense. You have Diabate at 35 and he is still chasing young guards all over the court. You have Vafessa, in the second half, he locked down Metu. He literally locked him down. They have this defensive attitude and that’s a big plus for this team," he pointed out."

As for 2.02m (6ft 8in) forward Vafessa Fofana who drained 25 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal on the night with, he says that it is a victory well deserved.

"It means a lot. We are in the race for the FIBA World Cup. So this one is an important game. We only have four victories instead of six so we need to fight more to be qualified for the World Cup. We are at home so we want to win all the games at home. This victory is a good one for the rest of the window," the Cholet Basket of France played stated.

On what gave the Elephants victory over Nigeria, he says that an early control of the game was all they applied.

"We just controlled the game. In the middle of the fourth quarter they missed a couple of baskets and we controlled it. At that point, we said, okay we are going to win it. We had a good rhythm. Okay, they were going to play aggressively but they only play one on one. They don’t move the ball. We were moving the ball, sharing it and finding easy baskets," he stressed.

FIBA