ESPN’s Colin Udoh on Africa’s chances at the 2023 FIBA World Cup

Line up ahead of the Cote D'Ivoire vs Uganda game at the FIBA World Cup qualifiers in Luanda Angola.

With the FIBA Basketball World Cup due to start later in August, bird story agency’s Silalei Shani got to ask seasoned ESPN sports journalist Colin Udoh what his predictions are for the tournament. Here, he shares his answers.

by Silalei Shani, bird story agency

The ultimate global basketball spectacle, the FIBA Basketball World Cup, is set to ignite courts on August 25th, with games hosted by the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia in the initial rounds. The Philippine capital, Manila, will play host for the finals, with the sought-after Naismith Trophy up for grabs.

Angola, South Sudan, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, and Egypt are Africa’s standout representatives for this year’s edition.

Nigerian journalist, ESPN writer, and sports television presenter Colin Udoh closely tracks the world basketball. He recently shared his insights and predictions for the tournament with bird story agency’s Silalei Shani. Shani was taking no prisoners, kicking off with why African basketball powerhouse Nigeria would not be at the event.

Given the progress of Nigeria’s basketball players and the global talent pool, were you surprised by Nigeria’s non-qualification for the 2023 FIBA World Cup?

“No, I would have been surprised if they had qualified. When you talk about talent, there is no doubt that Nigeria has arguably some of the best basketball talent on the African continent, but the problem is that most of that talent is not coming back. It is difficult to play for Nigeria because of the situation that is going on with the federation and the government. If you looked at the World Cup qualifiers, we had different sets of players for each of the different windows as well as two different coaches. Nigeria must get their house in order first before they can excel on the highest basketball stages.”

Based on the teams that did qualify for the FIBA World Cup—Angola, Cote D’Ivoire, Cape Verde, Egypt, and South Sudan—if you were to do a top 3 power ranking how would you rank them?

“I would have to go with Cote D’Ivoire, Angola and then Egypt.”

Who would you consider as a dark horse of the participating African nations?

“I’d probably go with Cape Verde. They’ve improved a lot over the last few years. Even watching their performance at the qualifiers, they managed to beat Cote D’Ivoire, and they did this without their center, Edy Tavares. They’re preparing well and I think they could be a difficult nut to crack for any team that’s going to face them.”

There’s a lot of hype around the South Sudanese team and they’ve done a fantastic job with their marketing and building a fan base. How do you think their maiden outing will be especially considering the group they’re in with Serbia, China and Puerto Rico?

“I love what Luol Deng has done with the South Sudan team. He’s practically driven them all the way to the FIBA World Cup, and they’ve done it in a sort of fashion that sounds like a Cinderella story. It puts them in a very good place going into the World Cup, but now whether they make a splash in that group is something that I might look at slightly differently. They’re not going to get past a powerhouse like Serbia, China is resurgent, so I guess the only one game where they might be able to pull off a win would be against Puerto Rico. Winning 2 games is a tall ask but if they did, I would be very pleased for them.”

Who do you think are the African players to watch for in the World Cup?

“I would look at Egypt’s Ehab Amin to start with. He is currently a star point guard at Al Ahly in Egypt but a former player for the University of Oregon. Amin is a very influential player for Egypt. I’d also keep an eye out for Walter “Edy” Tavares from Cape Verde. Standing at 7’3, he’s a man who drives the Cape Verde team when he’s there. They play well without him, but his presence makes a big difference as well. Then I’d leave all the top players in South Sudan’s team and go for Khaman Maluach, he’s just 16 years old yet a seven-foot centre. I think he’s going to be a major future star. He might not be the most influential among African teams, but I think that he’s a player you’d want to keep an eye on.”

In your opinion, what are the keys to success when preparing for the FIBA World Cup?

“Essentially, basketball is a simple game, you know? But when you start playing at a very high level, you need a technical team that can see the game and make the adjustments necessary to get the results on the floor. Teams look for a coach who has got the experience of training and coaching basketball at a very high level. The World Cup is not a local scrimmage. It’s the very best in the world and you need to have the very best playing out there. So, after recruiting the best you can, you need to play teams outside of Africa. You need to play against teams with different styles, looks on the court, and if you don’t compete against those different elements, you’re not going to be able to make the adjustments you need when you get to the World Cup itself.”

In the hierarchy of international basketball tournaments, where does the FIBA World Cup rank in terms of bragging rights? There’s the Olympics, FIBA World Cup and Afrobasket…if an African team advances in this stage is it considered that the team could have higher bragging rights than if they were the gold winners for Afrobasket?

“If you win Afrobasket you go home with a championship trophy. That’s something you can put on your cabinet. For the World Cup and the Olympics, it doesn’t matter how far you go, if you don’t get a podium finish you have nothing to show for it. You can’t put sixth or seventh place in your trophy cabinet. At the end of the day bragging rights come down to what you can physically show to prove that you were there, be it a medal or a trophy. Those are tangible things you can show to your children or grandchildren and tell them about your accomplishment. For me, it’s trophies over position, any day.”

bird story agency

Tom Kirkwood