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2 good wins over Egypt (+27) then Tunisia (+36), but each time by trying harder than the opponent.
I think it was not necessary and I am afraid that next round will be difficult due to a lack of enthusiasm.

Previews and post-game reports are interesting. Keep it up! ;)

First of all thank you for making the effort to look at our NT, I'm happy to see reactions and interaction for South African managers regarding the NT! I'm doing everything I can to make the team better, I mentioned in my election speech on what would be my approach. So I hope nobody is disappointed that I'm doing unexpecting things right now... ;)
The most important is to keep a close eye on the NT and not make any mistakes, be stable and make a steady progress.
One of my goals was to get the South African community more involved and active, and looking at it right now it seems to be going the right way.

I don't have a problem in listening to people who maybe have a different opinion, as I told you I would be glad to listen and talk about it. But I hope you agree and feel that the team is going the right direction and progress has been made, I'm not done yet as I would love to continue to lead the NT if given the opportunity. But also at the same time I think there has been little to complain about so far to be fair. I like the fact that you actually speak up and let me know what you think, you could also what I mentioned more than once send me a BB-mail. But this is up to you ofcourse :)

As the NT coach I'm also keeping an eye on the U21 team, and it sort of bothers me to see what has happened and is happening with it right now. Also nobody made any post on the forum regarding the U21 team, it seems like nobody cares about it. Hopefully, and I have confidence that the next U21 coach will be a lot more commited and motivated to do his job.

I will go talk about your comment about enthusiasm and my tactics, GDP & motivation in my next preview. Also I would like to repeat that every managers is more than welcome to send me a BB-mail about any questions etc. I will be more than happy to reply to it, and hear everyones opinion.

You're doing a great job, but please don't be too sensitive.
I think Ebene know the game well and his question is relevant.
Anyway good luck in the next round!

South Africa vs. Tounes 129 - 93 (47362)

An impressive win against Tunisia last Monday in the AfroBasket tournement, this extents South Africa's winning streak to 4.
The predicted winning margin was set at 24 points, but at the end of the match the margin was 36 points which means 12 points more than we expected. The team was in control from start to finish, with the right strategy and lineup Tunisia didn't stand a chance. Our shooting percentage was as high as 65% (52/80) with 34 total assists (28 against Egypt last week).
South Africa had a rebound advantage of 4, this seems small but concidered our 3-2 defense compared to Tunisa's 2-3 this is kind of impressive. If we can continue like this we have a good chance of finishing in the top 4 in the second stage of the tournement.

Die druk is by Marokko, ons voel goed of kanse om die halfeindstryd te bereik. In die perskonferensie oor die wedstryd teen Marokko sal ek verduidelik wat ons plan is. Danksy al ons aanhangers en die mense wat in ons glo, sal ons jou nie teleurstel nie!

Man of the match:
Sigidi Mbatha
18 points & 13 assists

The scores:
South Africa (129)
Lekgwathi 24, Kalaka 19, Mbatha 18, Tefu 14, Mji 12, Qaba 12, Fazzie 10, Mabuza 8, Cebekhului 8, Steward 2, Hlomelang 2, Naidoo 0.

Tunisia (93)
Aouadi 21, Shirazisiddiq 16, Hachadi 16, Dhaoui 15, El Hadden 13, Baji 6, Bensala 4, Jait 2, Solhi 0.

Ons moet onvoorspelbaar wees en bly

The last match in the first phase of the AfroBasket tournement will be played tomorrow, South Africa will play against Morocco for a battle of 3rd place. With good results against Egypt and Tunisia the team is confident to play well again against one of the toughest teams, we certainly see chances to continue our winning streak to 5.

We got some questions about playing with normal motivation against Tunisia and Egypt the two previous weeks, besides this comment there were no other complaints regarding our strategy and lineup.

''ons het geweet ons was die gunstelinge teen Egipte en Tunisië, maar ons wou die manier waarop ons dit beplan het, voortgaan voor die toernooi begin het. Die span het 'n belangrike voordeel in vergelyking met die meeste ander spanne in Afrika, en dit is onvoorspelbaar wees. Byvoorbeeld, Algerië is sterk om buite aanval te speel, maar hul binnekant is baie swak. En dit geld ook vir Marokko, hulle is baie sterk binne, maar hulle buitekant is een van die swakste. Daarom is dit baie belangrik om onvoorspelbaar te wees en te bly, nou en in die toekoms.''

Another journalist asked what would be the strategy tomorrow against Morocco, and how does the coach see his chances against the team that has the same record as South Africa right now.

''Ek hoef nie geheimsinnig te wees nie, ons ken hul krag en swakhede. Hulle sal binnekant speel, hul groot man is een van die beste in Afrika. Die spelvorm van hul sterspelers is baie hoog, en as ons 'n kans wil hê, moet ons hulle beperk om baie punte te verdien. Ons het van al hul vorige wedstryde gesien dat hul point guard en shooting guard amper geen skote neem nie. Ons strategie sal 2-3 verdediging wees, hopelik sal dit genoeg wees. Ons aanval strategie sal 'n geheim bly, anders sal ons ons grootste voordeel weggooi.''

Prediction
Morocco wins by 7 points

South Africa vs. Al Maghrib 82-103(47365)

With a score of 42-42 things look promising, but unfortunately the second half was less impressive from our side while Morocco played at their best. The team simply missed too many shots (32/90) compared to (46/86), in almost all other categories we also came up short, only at 3 point shots we had the upperhand. The lack of gameshape of our substitutes was simply not good enough, and it shows in the stats. Also the stamina for the players on those positions was too low, this is something I will try to fix for the future so we won't run into the same problem again.

Right now we have to focus on the end result of the AfroBasket tournement, our finishing position. It's gonna be a tough 2nd phase but we can manage it. If we all put in some effort our chances of getting the result we aim for are realistic, we should not feel discouraged by one defeat. We still have a minimum of 5 matches left to play, and our goal is to win 2 of them. Ek dink ons kan ons resultate verbeter, en met die ondersteuning en toewyding van sommige afrigters sal ons dit doen.Maak asseblief 'n poging om jou spelers beter te maak, eers dan kan ons beter en sterker word.

Man of the match:
Mabhoko Cebekhului
14 points & 13 rebounds

The scores:
South Africa (82)
Fazzie 20, Lekgwathi 18, Cebekhului 14, Mji 10, Mabuza 10, Mbatha 8, Tefu 2, Baloyi 0, Hlomelang DNP-CD, Qaba DNP-CD, Tsenoli DNP-CD, Kalaka DNP-CD.

Morocco (103)
Ali 29, Ibn-Nabil 17, Sterzik 15, Haj-Saleh 10, Sulaiman 8, Junajyd 7, Ibrahim 7, Rais 6, Musa 2, Muthanna 2, Mansoury DNP-CD.

A good season. But with a better enthusiasm management, the result could have been even better. Keep it up!

South Africa wins bronze medal in AfroBasket season 43

Season 43 of the AfroBasket Championship is in the books, South Africa won the bronze medal finishing in 4th place in the standings. It was a good season in my opinion in the first tournement as manager of the NT, the goals have been reached and there's plenty to look forward to for the upcoming season. The team improved in pretty much every category, some of the details can be seen in the infographic that was posted earlier today.

I will continue to do things like i have been doing them till now, some good steps have been made in the right direction and we will push to improve again in season 44. Right now 3 teams are ahead of us in the continent, it is fair to assume we won't be able to close that gap anytime soon. Instead we will look to consolidate our 4th place and create a team and group of dedicated managers that we will be able to count on for seasons to come. We will closely follow the progress of the South African NT and I will do my best to get the maximum result, hopefully we will continue to work well together as I won't be able to achieve anything without you...

For now I would like to thank the managers that are making an effort to train the NT players as much as they can, they are motivated to make them better and help South Africa to climb the rankings. Also a thumbs up to Pro_Shot for his efforts on posting on the forum in an attempt to get as many managers motivated and involved as possible. Also thanks to the managers I asked for advice and information. Let's go South Africa!