Cameroon: Analyzing the players

[by Kris SANTIAGO] - The Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens gave me the chance to scout the players from Cameroon. It must be mentioned, that I took only these two games into account, so it could be, that a certain player performs better in club-competition than on the international level.

Here are my thoughts on the players:

No. 4 - Christian Bayang:
Third-string small forward, so it's tough for me to talk about his talent.
Came into play if other players fouled out or needed a rest and was solid as he made no capital mistakes on the floor, but got no chance to score or to stand out, so I may need another tournament where he gets more minutes.

No. 5 - Cyrille Etogo Makanda:
Cyrille had a so-so outing in Athens. Hit some clutch threes in the first game but had trouble to convert his shots in the second when it was needed the most. A streaky shooter, who could use his speed to penetrate as well, as versatility is the key.

No. 6 - Parfait Bitee:
He and Nana were the most impressive players on the squad. He knows when to push the ball and when to return to set play. Quick on defense; he gave all guards a hard time even though some of them had a bigger international standing then Parfait (Like Arroyo, Popovic and Barea),
He scored primarily from the perimeter as he used his quickness and ball handling skills to create many opportunities to score. A natural leader already at such an age, I would not be surprised to see him succeed on the European and maybe in the NBA In the future.

No. 7 - Franck Ndongo:
Should be ready to play a bigger role on his college-team, I wondered why he was not used there in a more efficient way. May has to work a bit on his shooting selection, as he took some wild jump-shots, but he even scored on a few of them and brings a lot of athletics' to the team. Franck has some pretty good ball-handling for his height which makes him capable to play the smaller positions as well. Should be a lock for a job in Europe once his collegiate career is over.

No. 8 - Harding Nana:
I simply can't understand why Harding played only in limited minutes for his club-team in Poland last season. This guy can bang the post like no other. He can drive, shoot and has some post moves in his repertoire that are tough to defend. On the defensive end, Harding pulls down a lot of boards and is physically gifted to defend bigger players even in the post. His weakness: No perimeter game, as he had trouble to finish from the three.
Rosalia in Spain should be a stepping stone for Harding and if he bounces back from his Poland-experience, he may get bigger jobs in Europe in 2009.

No. 9 - Joachim Ekanga-Ehawa:
Jo is a routined player, who's been a fixture on the national-team for quite some time. Came back from an injury and is not the same player as before. He was brought in to add firepower from the three, but had a hard time to hit his shots when needed most. To his defense, he had to take them in the last minutes of the second game, with no time on the clock.

No. 10 - Patrick Bouli:
Patrick needs to gain confidence about his own game as he struggled to give the right impulses to his teammates on the court. Had a bad season in the U.S. and needs to find his way back to the game after being known for his great shooting touch on a junior-level.
He could not find a rhythm in the first game in Athens and was benched through most of the second game against Puerto Rico.

No. 11 - Serge Ellong:
Serge came to Athens as a basketball tourist as he saw only a few seconds on the court.

No. 12 - Brice Vounang:
The "Cameroonian Schortsanitsis" is way more athletic then the original from Greece and has way more range then Big Sofo. Knows how to create room to release his shot, but sometimes still struggled near the basket due to his height as taller guys were constantly bothering him. A bulky player like he is, it would be probably good to see him loosing a few pounds to excel on a higher level then Pro B in France. He has the shooting mechanics and the shooting touch, now he needs to get faster in order to play a smaller position.

No. 13 - Alfred Aboya:
It was easy to see why Aboya is not a big scoring option for UCLA and Cameroon as he simply lacks post moves and the hands to finish on offense .On defense; he was hampered by a lot of calls against him and is still a bit away of being ready to play on a higher level.
I don't see him in Europe or elsewhere unless he works intensively on his shooting skills and his defensive game.

No. 14 - Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje:
The veteran provided a steady presence under the boards and had no trouble guarding fellow bigs P.J. Ramos, Daniel Santiago or Stanko Barac in the post. Not much of a scorer but had some nice moments during the tournaments and you can see that he knows his role and how to play on such a high level thanks to his NBA-past and his experience in various European leagues.

No. 15 - Alexis Wangmene:
Spurs' director of player personnel George Felton came to Athens to scout Alexis to see if he is capable of playing against better competition then the NCAA.
Wangmene, who has been adopted by R.C. Buford (GM Spurs), is another big body in the line-up of Cameroon but is not ready yet for international play and lacks a real post-game and needs to work on the defensive end as well, but has some upside like most bigs in Cameroon due to his athletic body. Now, he just needs to keep working on his game in Texas.


I also like to mention this story here of the Buffalo News, at it recaps the obstacles Cameroon faced in Angola before facing the same problems in France and Athens…