Algeria v Egypt, Day 3 of the 2013 FIBA Africa Championship in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, 22 August, Preliminary Round
ALGIERS (AfroBasket 2015) - There is still some work to be done for Algeria ahead of AfroBasket 2015 but head coach Ali Filali is confident they are on the right path with the arrival of three of their foreign-based players.
Two months after the beginning of the national team's preparations for Africa's flagship event, France-based Medhi Cheriet, Faysal Sahraoui and Samir Mekdad have finally joined the team, reshaping Algeria's previous preliminary squad.
ALGIERS (AfroBasket 2015) - There is still some work to be done for Algeria ahead of AfroBasket 2015 but head coach Ali Filali is confident they are on the right path with the arrival of three of their foreign-based players.
Two months after the beginning of the national team's preparations for Africa's flagship event, France-based Medhi Cheriet, Faysal Sahraoui and Samir Mekdad have finally joined the team, reshaping Algeria's previous preliminary squad.
The trio missed last week's warm-up games against Mali, however, as the team gets ready to travel to Turkey for the remainder of their training camp, Filali feels that one win (63-57) followed by a loss (66-60) against the Western Africans gave him a good indication of his team's competitiveness.
"These were our first games since the qualifiers played in February. I think the team has physically improved after our training camp in Slovenia," he said to Algeria Press Service.
When the action gets underway in Tunisia later this month, Algeria will aim at improving on their performance at AfroBasket 2013, where they finished 12th in the 16-team event.
The 12-day AfroBasket 2015 tips off on 19 August, and Filali, who is currently working with a 15-player squad, acknowledges that his team still needs some finishing touches.
There is still a lot of room for improvement defensively. - Filali
"We need to focus on defense and rebounding in order to allow our fast-break plays. That's the only solution to disrupt the African teams."
Algeria are expected to play three warm-up games on Turkish soil before they open their AfroBasket 2015 campaign in Group D facing Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire and Zimbabwe.
The team which received a wild card to participate in this year's African championship, will face debutant Zimbabwe in on the opening day of competition.
Although Filali says Algeria "are finally complete as a team", he is yet to decide his final roster.
Algeria preliminary squad for AfroBasket 2015: Mounir Ali, Kamel Ammour, Mounir Benzeguala, Mehdi Cheriet, Hichem Cherki, Abdesslem Dekkiche, Hocine Gaham, Touhami Ghezzoul, Abdellah Hamdini, Mohamed Harat, Samir Mekdad, Yanis Mostefat, Faisal Sahraoui, Sedik Touati and Mohamed Zerouali.
"These were our first games since the qualifiers played in February. I think the team has physically improved after our training camp in Slovenia," he said to Algeria Press Service.
When the action gets underway in Tunisia later this month, Algeria will aim at improving on their performance at AfroBasket 2013, where they finished 12th in the 16-team event.
The 12-day AfroBasket 2015 tips off on 19 August, and Filali, who is currently working with a 15-player squad, acknowledges that his team still needs some finishing touches.
There is still a lot of room for improvement defensively. - Filali
"We need to focus on defense and rebounding in order to allow our fast-break plays. That's the only solution to disrupt the African teams."
Algeria are expected to play three warm-up games on Turkish soil before they open their AfroBasket 2015 campaign in Group D facing Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire and Zimbabwe.
The team which received a wild card to participate in this year's African championship, will face debutant Zimbabwe in on the opening day of competition.
Although Filali says Algeria "are finally complete as a team", he is yet to decide his final roster.
Algeria preliminary squad for AfroBasket 2015: Mounir Ali, Kamel Ammour, Mounir Benzeguala, Mehdi Cheriet, Hichem Cherki, Abdesslem Dekkiche, Hocine Gaham, Touhami Ghezzoul, Abdellah Hamdini, Mohamed Harat, Samir Mekdad, Yanis Mostefat, Faisal Sahraoui, Sedik Touati and Mohamed Zerouali.
By: FIBA.com
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