Can Guinea continue to rise in African basketball charts?
In two weeks' time, Guinea will take their chances and try to advance to the Second Round of the African Qualifiers for the first time when they take on Angola, CAF and Cote d'Ivoire.
CONAKRY (GUINEA) - They surprisingly reached the last AfroBasket Quarter-Finals, and, to make things even more promising Guinea sealed a win in three games in the first round of Group C of the FIBA Basketball World Cup African Qualifiers.
In two weeks' time, Guinea will take their chances and try to advance to the Second Round of the African Qualifiers for the first time when they take on Angola, Central African Republic (CAF) and hosts Cote d'Ivoire in Abidjan (July 1-3).
The team that finishes last in the group will be eliminated.
For a team that finished 0-3 in 2019 African Qualifiers, to be in the position they are now, Guinea have made quite a progress and look prepared to build on their recent success.
The inevitable question is, Can Guinea continue to climb by reaching the 12-team Second Round of the African Qualifiers?
If Guinea play stoically as they did at AfroBasket and compete as hard as they did in November in Angola, they might secure one of Group A's three tickets for the next round.
In Benguela, Angola, the Guineans beat CAF, but fell short to Angola and Cote d'Ivoire.
But what's behind Guinea's rise in the African basketball charts over past few months? Is it the addition of new players, coach Zeljko Zecevic's effect or an overdue rise?
If available for the Abidjan showdown, the likes of Shannon Evans, Mohamed Queta, Cedric Mansare, Ibrahim Haidara and Osmane Drame, could propel Guinea to a remarkable feat. They are all talented players, most of whom are currently competing at high level across Europe.
Evans, who plays for Real Betis in Spain's ACB, ranks second in the African Qualifiers with 7.7 assists per game. He is third in the scoring charts with 19 points per game, and is the only point guard with two double-doubles thus far.
Establishing Guinea among the continent's heavyweight wouldn't be surprise, considering how far they came from.
After a hard-fought qualification to the AfroBasket, which eventually ensured the team in the African Qualifiers, Guinea seem to be in control of their destiny to continue to succeed at the highest level on the continent of African basketball.
At the 2021 AfroBasket, Guinea were impressive and got to the Last Eight thanks to wins over hosts Rwanda and Egypt.
The Quarter-Finals was a record development for the West African nation whose future has looked as promising.
Given this new confidence level, Guinea may well be taking her basketball to the next level should they secure a place in the Second Round.
They are not strangers to their Group C opponents and they will aim to keep a stranglehold on the third-place position.
On July 1, Guinea faces CAF - a team they lost to 61-60 at AfroBasket - but they beat 76-75 in Window 1 last November. That notwithstanding, Guinea still made strides that today stand them out.
The games against Angola and Cote d'Ivoire on July 2 and 3 are as important as their first game and they will look forward to keeping the scores low.
A qualification ticket to the Second Round of the Qualifiers will certainly be a huge boost for Guinea basketball.
FIBA