LUANDA (Angola) - Angola head to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament Spain looking to prove themselves. The elder statesmen who made Angola a powerhouse are all gone and now, the next generation will be called upon to end the country's 16-year Olympic drought.
The Roster
The transition from Angola's legendary generation of veterans to the next group for the future is complete. The core of the current leaders ranges from 25 to 28 years, meaning they can be together for the next two FIBA Basketball World Cup cycles or longer.
The main man for Angola is point guard Childe Dundao, who at 26 is already spending his fifth summer with the senior team. The small, quick point guard is an absolute menace on defense and really can score the ball if needed. But Dundao's main mission is to get his teammates set up.
Angola have a trio of big men that few in the world can challenge with the Bruno Fernando, Silvio Sousa and Jilson Bango, who will all be 25 years old during the OQT.
The oldie of the group, 28-year-old Gerson Goncalves is an important guard but a big push should come from Selton Miguel, who plays college basketball in the United States and last played for the country at the 2020 OQT in Kaunas.
The Angolan team in Spain will undoubtedly include some top-level youngsters who will battle to be the next leaders, with nine players born in 2001 or later included in the preliminary roster. The 22-year-old Kevin Kokila has become a leader in the French league; the 2006-born Aginaldo Neto played at the NBA Africa Academy; and Eduardo Simao played for Angola at the FIBA U18 AfroBasket 2022.
The Question
The start of Angola's transition did not produce the desired results at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, with just one win over Philippines to show. Head coach Josep "Pep" Claros and his team will not be happy about that and will head to Spain looking to show what they are capable of doing.
The question remains though if the current leaders can get the job done on the big stage.
The Hope
Childe Dundao hassles opposing point guards, Angola's shooters are able to hit from long range and the team's strength - the group of power forwards and centers - is able to completely dominate in the paint.
The Fear
Opposing teams are able to take advantage of Dundao's lack of size - 1.67m / 5'6" - and Angola's bigs cannot get the ball in the spots where they can hurt the opposition.
Or they have no space because the shooters do not keep the defense honest and it just collapses.
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