Afrobasket 2015: Lions poised to win this Wednesday

Cameroon will make its entry on the first day of the Africa basketball Men's Championship (Afrobasket) at Ccomplexe de Radès (Tunisia) on Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at 6.30 p.m.

The Lions will play against Mali Group C which includes Egypt and Gabon. It is hoped that this match will set the tone for the competition for the Cameroonians who have big ambitions for this edition.

As a reminder, the trophy held by Angola, has always escaped Cameroon in 27 editions. The best performance of the Lions dates back to 2007 and this final was lost against the Angolans. In 2013, they finished fifth, beaten in the quarterfinals by Côte d'Ivoire.

However, this edition could be one full of surprises because the players 'have gained experience", according to Christian Bayang, a Cameroonian player, left out of the squad due to injury. Why not therefore dream of a unique sacred in Tunisia? So it is necessary not to neglect additional motivation for a possible qualification which is also important for the Olympic Games 2016.

A third failure in this competition, after those of 2008-2012, would be a bad experience for Cameroon, 43rd nation in the latest Fiba rankings. The winner of the Afrobasket will automatically qualify for Rio then the second and third will participate in intercontinental play-offs.

But it is not yet there. There is a need to manage the games of the captain, Gaston Essengue, and his teammates. The group led by Lazare Adingono is predominantly made up of professionals in the United States, Europe and Africa. Most have also participated in the Afrobasket.

In this group, there is the return of Parfait Bitee, who was absent during the last edition due to injury. The only concern was the absence of Richard Mbah à Moute, mired in procedures for the renewal of his contract with Sacramento in the NBA. His absence was confirmed at the end of the weekend.

But this is certainly not what will disrupt the team, which has been preparing for two weeks in Sousse, Tunisia. Even if everything seems good, there were a few injuries in the den with Nana Harding and Michel Ipouck who are gradually getting back in good shape.

In addition, the Lions had settled for a preparation truncated after the cancellation of the traditional tournament in Shanghai (China) that usually offers sparring-partners of choice. Cameroon made a few appearances in a friendly, punctuated by a defeat against Tunisia and two wins against local teams.

It is again hoped that this will be a whole different story during the tournament with opponents of a different ilk, even if Egypt is the best ranked team in the group (41st). It is also the most dangerous, because they are unpredictable. The Egyptians had surprised everyone by reaching the final in the last edition.

If the Lions had already gained the upper hand on Mali (62nd) in 2013, we remember that the victory had been difficult against a team not playing at its best level. Gabon, new comer, is the little thumb of the Group since the team is even not classified, due to lack of points.

But this Gabon managed to beta the Central African Republic, one of the nations in the continent, in the qualifying round. There will therefore be need to hang on the good wagon to reach at least the quarter-finals. And in the light of the potential of the team, presumably largely Cameroon has the means