Senegal, Gilas share same goal

Senegal and the Philippines seem to be headed towards a collision course at the FIBA World Cup in Spain on Aug. 30-Sept. 14 as the two Group B contenders share the same dream of advancing to the knockout round-of-16 by winning at least two preliminary games, including one over the other.

Group B is composed of Argentina, Croatia, Greece, Puerto Rico, Senegal and the :Philippines. The six teams play a single round-robin in the preliminaries in Seville, meaning five games, with the last two finishers struck of contention. The top four move on to the round-of-16 in Madrid.

The Philippines makes its debut against Croatia on Aug. 30 then faces Greece on Aug. 31, Argentina on Sept. 1, Puerto Rico on Sept. 3 and Senegal on Sept. 4. Senegal, on the other hand, battles Greece on Aug. 30, Puerto Rico on Aug. 31, Croatia on Sept. 1, Argentina on Sept. 3 and the Philippines on Sept. 4.

Senegal coach Cheikh Sarr said his goal is to qualify for the round-of-16 – Gilas’ same objective. “We know it won’t be easy but we’ll play our best to make it happen and try to win two games or more in the first round,” said Sarr quoted in fiba.com. “We are going to play against big and experienced teams but this is what the World Cup is all about. Argentina counts with some of the best performers in the NBA such as Luis Scola. Greece is a top European team. The Philippines seems to be a tough opponent, too. Despite these tough opponents, I must say that we are competitors and I am planning to add a few more players to the good roster we had in Abidjan (during the FIBA-Africa Championships in the Ivory Coast).”

Senegal draws strength from the size, athleticism and physicality of its bigs. But 33-year-old sharpshooter Maleye Ndoye, a mainstay in the French Division I league with Paris-Levallois, said in the World Cup, the bigs won’t be able to do it by themselves. “We are big, we can jump, we block shots but we need more than that,” said Ndoye who led Senegal in scoring at the FIBA-Africa Championships last year. “I am confident that the high number of Senegalese playmakers like Louis Adams and others in US colleges will soon make an impact for our national team. We just need to believe and learn from past mistakes.”

Fiba.com said if Senegal or the Philippines is able to score an upset before their showdown, it could come down to a do-or-die duel on Sept. 4. “If Senegal can spring a surprise in one of their first four games when they go up against Greece, Puerto Rico, Croatia or Argentina, a second win against the Philippines in their last Group B game might be enough to see them advance,” said fiba.com.

Senegal’s last appearance in the World Cup was in Saitama in 2006 and the national team failed to win a single game. The Philippines hasn’t shown up since hosting in 1978 and automatically qualifying for the eight-team semifinal round. Technically, the Philippines last qualified for the World Cup in 1986 but forfeited its chance to play in Madrid because of the EDSA Revolution. The national team was then coached by Ron Jacobs with Allan Caidic, Samboy Lim and Hector Calma leading the local charge. At that time, FIBA allowed each country to employ a maximum of two naturalized players with a residency requirement of at least three years. Jeff Moore and Dennis Still were the country’s two naturalized players.

The Philippines has battled Senegal twice in the Olympics. The Filipinos won, 80-68, at the 1968 Mexico Games and repeated, 68-62, at the 1972 Munich Games. The Philippines hasn’t qualified to play basketball in the Olympics since 1972 while Senegal’s last competition was in 1980.

Sarr is now assembling his cast of characters for the preliminaries in Seville. One target is Sitapha Savane, now playing for Joventut in the Spanish league. Savane suited up for Senegal at the 2006 World Cup but sat out the last FIBA-Africa Championships to recover from an Achilles injury.

“I’m available,” said the 36-year-old forward. “It made sense for me not to go last year with all my injuries. In terms of stats, my best game was against Valencia since my injury.” Savane referred to his 26-point performance on 12-of-13 field goals. “I may have to go back to the national team if I keep this up,” he continued.

NBA veterans Mouhamed Sene and Hamady N’Diaye are shoo-ins for the squad. Sene, 28, is a 6-11 behemoth who has played for Seattle, Oklahoma City and New York in three NBA seasons. N’Diaye, 27, is a 7-0 monster who saw action in 14 games with the Sacramento Kings this season. Running the show is 6-1 playmaker Adams of South Carolina State. Adams, 23, is a quick and deadly outside shooter.

Sene said he’s not bothered that the Philippines is ranked higher than Senegal in the FIBA rankings, No. 34 to No. 41. “They should not rule us out,” he said. “There are no underdogs in this ground because we are all at the same level. People keep saying that Croatia, Greece and Argentina are the strongest teams in our group. I’m afraid but I disagree. There is no such thing in a tournament of this dimension because of the high competitiveness involved. It is not only between Senegal and the Philippines to compete for the last two places in the group. There are no unbeatable teams in our pool.”

Sene anchored the Senegal squad that placed third at the last FIBA-Africa Championships, averaging 6.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots. Senegal was upset by Egypt in the semifinals then stunned host Ivory Coast, 57-56, on a last second four-point play to claim the third World Cup ticket in the battle for the bronze. “I still feel bad when I think about the semifinal loss,” said Sene. “We made a big mistake to underestimate Egypt as we had beaten them in the preliminary round. This is no rhetoric but we will need to come together and make it clear that we are as good as any other team in the World Cup. We’ll need to change our mindset, develop our togetherness spirit, respect our opponents, not be intimidated and avoid underestimating team A, B or C.”