TEAM PROFILE: Guinea out to prove doubters wrong
Guinea will parade in Kigali, Rwanda for the July 28-August 5 as one of the 12 teams battling for the 2023 FIBA Women's AfroBasket honours but they remain unsure of what to expect.
CONAKRY (Guinea) - While Guinea is nowhere close to being one of the top basketball playing nations in Africa, it is worth noting that they bagged a silver medal in the inaugural show they hosted in Conakry in 1966.
That four-team event involved eventual winners Egypt, Central Africa Republic who finished third and Senegal.
Guinea will parade in Kigali, Rwanda for the July 28-August 5 as one of the 12 teams battling for the 2023 FIBA Women's AfroBasket honours but they remain unsure of what to expect.
Going by the results from the previous shows, Guinea have not had much to honk about. They finished last in the tournament held in Yaounde, Cameroon two years ago.
Find out more about Guinea below:
Team: Guinea
FIBA Ranking Women: 99th in the World, 17th in Africa
Last participation in the Women's AfroBasket: Guinea took part in 2021 12-nation championship and finished last.
Best result at the Women's AfroBasket: Guinea were second placed in 1966.
How they qualified for the 2023 Women's AfroBasket: Wildcard.. Guinea came up short against Cote d'Ivoire going down (179-101)- 81-55 and 98-48 on aggregate in the two-game regional Qualifiers at the Palaise des Sports de Treichville, Abidjan
Africa: Guinea will be making their ninth appearance in the tournament. after finishing fifth in 1970, and seventh in 1974, they featured twice in two decades (1984 and 1994) finishing eighth respectively.
In 2011, 2015 and 2021 they have struggled. In their last outing, they were again - courtesy of a wildcard placed in a group that coincidentally included the teams they played in 1966- Egypt and Senegal.
They soaked up century scores of 100-31 and 102-58 against their two opponents respectively and suffered another 81-50 defeat at the hands of Cote d'Ivoire.
2023 Women's AfroBasket Group: Guinea are in Group B where they will battle against Cameroon and Mozambique.
Masseny Kaba
Star Players: Kaba Massey who has signed for Angers in French Division One remains the team's mainstay and is expected to provide the points and the leadership on the court. She has also played in Italy and the WNBA Summer League.
The 6ft 3in (1.91m) Kaba led the team's scoring tally in the Qualifiers, but she will need some helping hands from the other members in the squad like Aicha Mara who also plies her trade with another French side - AS Monaco.
New Addition: Fanta Soumah who plays for Monaco Basket Club and Sweden based Fatoumata Jallow who features for Alvin are other hopes for Guinea.
Head Coach: Ousmane Camara has been at the helm since 2017. He served as Guinea assistant coach at the 2015 Women's AfroBasket in Yaounde.
Ousmane Camara
This will be his sixth appearance to the Africa Women's premier spectacle.
His outings include - AfroBasket Women 2015 in Yaounde, 2017 Tunis and AfroBasket Qualifications in 2019 in Praia and AfroBasket Women 2021.
Outlook: Guinea can not possibly match their exploits of 57 years ago, but they will show the rest of the continent during the event at BK Arena if they have made any strides at all in two years.
As the lowest ranked team among the twelve participating teams, Guinea have a mission of proving doubts wrong.
One thing is for sure-riding on the shoulders of their experienced quartet, they are going all out to do their best. The answer will be provided in a few days.
FIBA