Yanick Moreira (ANG) - Senegal v Angola, Afrobasket 2015, Radès (Tunisia), Group Phase, 24 August 2015
RADES (AfroBasket 2015) - Angola came out on top in a 62-61 thriller against Central African Republic (CAF) in Tuesday's AfroBasket 2015 Round of 16 action, but they know they must step up their game if they are to get past Egypt in Thursday's Quarter-Finals.
It was Angola's second game of the tournament that went down to the wire, after they conceded a heartbreaking 74-73 defeat to Senegal on Monday.
RADES (AfroBasket 2015) - Angola came out on top in a 62-61 thriller against Central African Republic (CAF) in Tuesday's AfroBasket 2015 Round of 16 action, but they know they must step up their game if they are to get past Egypt in Thursday's Quarter-Finals.
It was Angola's second game of the tournament that went down to the wire, after they conceded a heartbreaking 74-73 defeat to Senegal on Monday.
But, how and why are the African reigning champions having such a hard time in Rades?
Eduardo Mingas has the most realistic explanation.
He feels the Angolans aren't playing as a team enough, averaging only 12 assists a game, compared to the Egyptians' tournament-best 18 assists per contest.
"Right now Egypt is playing better basketball than us," Mingas told FIBA.com.
"They are moving the ball a lot better and they are playing as a team and we are going to need to prevent them from playing this way."
If we don’t stop them [Egypt], we could fall in the Quarter-Finals - Mingas
Angola came into the tournament as one of the title contenders but for some reason, things aren't working that well for the Southern African, who advanced to the Quarter-Finals with a 3-1 mark.
"It's a matter of mentality of some our players, who tend to play individual rather than playing as a team," Mingas added.
Head coach Moncho Lopez also stressed the need to instil a team effort.
The man who guided Spain to a second-place finish at EuroBasket 2003 feels that AfroBasket is a great competition "but really the teams play more individually", he noted.
"We have great players with a lot of quality and skills but sometimes we don't play as a team but one on one because that is their style," he pointed out.
"The best team in Africa, they could play like the USA, Argentina, Spain, Serbia if they tried to play as a team and shared the ball and not care who scored 20 or more points. That's my opinion."
Angola came away with a one-point win over CAF on Tuesday, less that 24 hours after their one-point defeat to Senegal in the Group Phase, but the game served as a wake-up for the Angolans, who almost fell short.
Just like Mingas and Lopez mentioned, Angola's forward Reggie Moore also thinks there is room for improvement for the Angolans.
"We need to play a lot better, hopefully it is [going to be] against Egypt," Moore offered to FIBA.com.
The meeting against Egypt will be a rematch of the last edition of the African Championship where the Angolans topped Egypt in the Final.
"It's a dangerous game," Moore recalled.
"They want to beat us. They want revenge, and we have to play our best game of the tournament, way better than we played against Senegal.
"We have to play Angolan basketball if we want to win," the 34-year-old pointed out.
Eduardo Mingas has the most realistic explanation.
He feels the Angolans aren't playing as a team enough, averaging only 12 assists a game, compared to the Egyptians' tournament-best 18 assists per contest.
"Right now Egypt is playing better basketball than us," Mingas told FIBA.com.
"They are moving the ball a lot better and they are playing as a team and we are going to need to prevent them from playing this way."
If we don’t stop them [Egypt], we could fall in the Quarter-Finals - Mingas
Angola came into the tournament as one of the title contenders but for some reason, things aren't working that well for the Southern African, who advanced to the Quarter-Finals with a 3-1 mark.
"It's a matter of mentality of some our players, who tend to play individual rather than playing as a team," Mingas added.
Head coach Moncho Lopez also stressed the need to instil a team effort.
The man who guided Spain to a second-place finish at EuroBasket 2003 feels that AfroBasket is a great competition "but really the teams play more individually", he noted.
"We have great players with a lot of quality and skills but sometimes we don't play as a team but one on one because that is their style," he pointed out.
"The best team in Africa, they could play like the USA, Argentina, Spain, Serbia if they tried to play as a team and shared the ball and not care who scored 20 or more points. That's my opinion."
Angola came away with a one-point win over CAF on Tuesday, less that 24 hours after their one-point defeat to Senegal in the Group Phase, but the game served as a wake-up for the Angolans, who almost fell short.
Just like Mingas and Lopez mentioned, Angola's forward Reggie Moore also thinks there is room for improvement for the Angolans.
"We need to play a lot better, hopefully it is [going to be] against Egypt," Moore offered to FIBA.com.
The meeting against Egypt will be a rematch of the last edition of the African Championship where the Angolans topped Egypt in the Final.
"It's a dangerous game," Moore recalled.
"They want to beat us. They want revenge, and we have to play our best game of the tournament, way better than we played against Senegal.
"We have to play Angolan basketball if we want to win," the 34-year-old pointed out.
By: FIBA.com
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