Revenge on Senegal

The Philippines and Senegal share a history of fierce basketball competition on the world stage. In the Olympics, they’ve battled twice with the Philippines winding up on top, 80-68 in 1968 and 68-62 in 1972. In the FIBA World Cup, they faced off once and the Philippines won, 81-79 in overtime in Spain in 2014. In China, the Philippines and Senegal played twice in friendlies, splitting the series. Senegal took the first meeting, 72-64 last Friday and the Philippines won the second, 75-63 last Sunday. Curiously, not a single Senegal player was from the 2014 World Cup squad while the Philippine holdovers were June Mar Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar.

Although Senegal didn’t qualify for this year’s World Cup, Gilas coach Chot Reyes grabbed the opportunity to play the African team because of the similarity in style with Angola. Gilas is bracketed with Angola, Italy and Dominican Republic in the group stage of the World Cup. African basketball’s trademark is an oversupply of gangling, lengthy, athletic and tall frontliners. Senegal’s team in China featured 7-0 Youssoupha Ndoye, 6-11 Ousmane Ndiaye, 7-0 Gora Camara, 6-9 Pape Moustapha Diop, 6-8 Ousmane Diop and 6-9 Amar Sylla.

Ndoye, 32, averaged 11.8 points and 6.2 rebounds in five games at the 2019 FIBA World Cup. He played four years at the University of St. Bonaventure in New York where Matthew Wright, NBA legend Bob Lanier and former Crispa import Glenn Hagan saw action. Twice, Ndoye played in the NBA Summer League and once made it to the San Antonio Spurs preseason lineup. He has suited up in Spain, France and Korea. Sylla, 21, saw action for Orlando, Cleveland and Detroit in three straight NBA Summer Leagues and has import creds in Spain, Belgium and Lithuania. Camara, 23, is a dual Italian-Senegalese citizen and has been an Italian league resident since 2017. Ndiaye, 19, is a Senegal U19 national standout who has played in Germany and Spain. Diop, 20, is a French league mainstay.

Senegal’s shifty three-point gunners tested Gilas’ perimeter defense. Brancou Badio, 24, is known as “Papi” and averaged four points in three games with the Phoenix Suns in the 2022 NBA Summer League. He plays for Manresa in the Spanish circuit and used to see action in Germany. Jean-Jacque Boissy, 23, is a 6-0 speedster who played for Senegal’s U18 and U19 national teams. Lamine Sambe, 33, is a 6-2 veteran who’s the team’s senior statesman. He was born in Orleans, France and played for the French U18 and U20 squads then shifted his allegiance to Senegal in 2016. Sambe averaged 6.6 points in five games at the 2019 FIBA World Cup. He has played in the French league since his cadet season in 2005-06. Sambe should be classified as a naturalized player for Senegal.

Surely, Gilas learned a lot from playing Senegal twice. Defense was a high priority in Reyes’ agenda and it showed in holding Ndoye from 16 in the first game to nine in the second and Ndiaye from 15 to three. Boissy got away with 16 points in the rematch but was the only Senegalese in double figures. Angola’s roster for the World Cup hasn’t been announced but it’s expected that the squad will be bannered by four-year NBA veteran Bruno Fernando, 6-9 French-born Kelvin Kokila, 6-9 Antonio Monteiro (who holds three passports), 5-8 point guard Childe Dundao, 6-10 Jilson Bango, 6-9 Teotonio Do of NCAA D-2 University of Arkansas-Fort Smith and 6-9 French league center Silvio de Sousa. Then there are Gerson Goncalvez, Gerson Domingos, Eduardo Mingas Francisco and Leonel Paulo who were on the Angola squad that beat Gilas in overtime at the 2019 FIBA World Cup.