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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!