Basketball is second in popularity only to soccer in Africa. Aaron Nicodemus reviews the matches played at the seventh All Africa Games
It is ironic that basketball was invented by a white American, considering that even in the United States the sport has been overtaken by African-Americans.
In many countries on the African continent, the game is second in popularity only to soccer. But in South Africa, basketball rims are a rare sight, and the sport’s popularity ranks just below table tennis.
Africa’s best teams came to Johannesburg last week to participate in the All Africa Games tournament at the Wembley Indoor Hall. On the court African basketball bears a striking resemblance to the American version, with dunks, fast-moving action, three-point shots and plenty of passion. Several foreign scouts were on hand to evaluate talent and possibly poach players for their teams.
Where the African game strays from its American counterpart is its off-court atmosphere. Those uninitiated with African basketball might assume that all games end with spectators and fans throwing empty soda cans at each other, that attending games armed with handguns is acceptable behaviour, and that Portuguese is a great language with which to taunt someone.
At the games’ end, even the medal ceremony wouldn’t go smoothly. The Egyptian national anthem was played without the tournament-winning Egyptians, who didn’t bother to come and receive their medals.
The tournament started on a sour note when teams from Kenya, Algeria and Madagascar pulled out at the last minute due to financial constraints. That left only six teams in the men’s and women’s divisions, forcing a round-robin format. Teams would win medals based on overall record, and in the event of a tie, point differential.
The SABC did not televise the games until the tournament’s fifth day, and by then the best basketball – and South Africa’s lone win, the men’s team victory over Senegal – had already passed.
Two teams shined despite raging conflicts in their countries. Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo haven’t let anything get in the way of good basketball. Each team earned a silver medal, two of only nine combined medals won by the two countries.
“We’re not concerned with war,” said Angola’s basketball coach, Mario Palma. “We concentrate on the game.”
Muadi Mabika, a member of Congo’s women’s team, plays professionally in the United States. She was scouted at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and then became a member of the Los Angeles Sparks in the Women’s National Basketball League with the help of fellow Congolese Dikembe Mutombo, who plays for the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.
Mabika noted that the Congo team had very little preparation for the games because of the situation in her country. “I just hope that it will get better,” she said with a sigh.
The Nigerian men’s team has two former NBA players, including Julius Nwosu, a muscle-bound and tatooed centre. Nwosu and his teammates showed skill and style, but not enough to overcome the finesse of the Angolans or the crispness of Egypt. They earned the bronze.
Angola came into the All Africa Games as the African champion, having collected the title earlier this year that earned them a trip to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. But half of that championship team did not appear due to professional commitments, and this team had not practised together until it arrived in Johannesburg.
Angola’s coach, Palma, says the Angolans only came to the games for “political reasons”. He noted that with the African championship in the team’s pocket, these games were meaningless. “Our team is tired, and inexperienced, and has not been able to practice together,” Palma said. “We’re here because we had to be. We make the best of things.”
The Angolans were a collection of thin, tall, whip-quick black players who resembled a team straight from an American ghetto. They played a pressure game of basketball that forced opponents to make mistakes.
Contrast that image with the Egyptians, who played a more methodical style of basketball. They much preferred to run complicated plays and score points by simply out-passing their opponents. They played strong defence and made few mistakes. In the most American of analogies, Egypt against Angola was Princeton versus Georgetown, the lily-white team versus the boys from the ‘hood.
Angolan supporters dominated the stands. Hundreds of Angolans living in Johannesburg came wrapped in the red and black of Angola’s flag to cheer on their team. Some fans even wore military fatigues. They carried signs that said things like “Proud to be Angolan”. Their taunting of opposing teams, referring in graphic Portuguese to female genitalia, provided the musical accompaniment to every Angolan match.
The game between these two contrasting styles was hotly contested. After the Egyptians scored an upset 73-72 win, several Egyptian players taunted the Angolan fans. Two Egyptians held their hands to their ears as if to say, “Where are your cheers now?” Their taunts were met with a shower of soda cans. One Egyptian player then returned fire, then another, until soda-can tossing became a team sport. As order was restored, the Egyptian team knelt down among the scattered cans, kissed the hardwood floor and prayed to Allah.
The Egyptians might have shown more restraint that night had they known that three Angolan fans had been stopped at the gate with firearms. Perhaps that explains why, five days later, the Egyptians failed to appear to receive their gold medals in a stadium full of Angolan fans.
With war as a backdrop, perhaps it is no wonder that the tournament itself was peppered with tense moments and violence. The men’s team from Cameroon was nearly expelled for its violent style of play.
The level of play varied widely among the tournament’s 12 teams. The two South African teams, for instance, were participating in their first international competition, and it showed. The women, despite a strong performance from flashy point guard Sophy Dhlamini, did not manage a win. The men eked out a win against Senegal, preventing them from also finishing last.
Overall the tournament was a passionate, chaotic and beautifully played affair.
It also proved that in Africa, what happens on the basketball court is only half the fun.