Madagascar basketball captain calls on troops to show more BMT

Madagascar skipper asks from more from troops

JOHANNESBURG, March 12 (ANA) – Though they were clearly outclassed in their recent African Basketball Championship (AfroBasket) qualifiers – losing all six of their matches – Madagascar have gained valuable experience according to their skipper Vallery Olivier Botou.

Botou told fiba.basketball: “During some games, we would lead, but when we had to go for the money time, we would suddenly lose our means.”

Botou also talks about what they couldn’t achieve in Monastir, Tunisia, home to Group A’s second round of the qualifiers.

The Ankoay, as they are now called after the bird of prey originating from the North-West of the island, travelled to Tunisia with the idea of grabbing two precious victories that would have sent them directly to the final round in Kigali in August, but came back with none.

“This third window was when we performed best. But we couldn’t come up with the right moves to finish,” says Botou.

Citing the game against hosts Tunisia, he admits that they were overwhelmed at some point. At first, they matched with the reigning African champions in the first quarter (13-14), then 20-27, before being completely taken over in the last two quarters (8-17, 10-20).

“We tried to stay close, and keep them at hand. But they have the experience and they outplayed us with that,” Botou added.

Size also mattered in Monastir, where Madagascar were outplayed by their opponents. And the captain thinks that naturalising some players could be an avenue to explore for their next international outings.

“Maybe this is what we need. We suffered a lot on rebounds, for instance. So, bringing in one or two players could help.”

But the match they might regret the most is the one against Central African Republic (CAR).

Madagascar led all the way, only to be overtaken in the last quarter. But this was the moment Kiady Mijoro Razanamahenina and Sitraka Raharimanantoanina decided to step up, when they rose up to 29 points and five rebounds respectively, featuring among the game-toppers.

“Seeing them perform at this level is quite reassuring for Malagasy basketball. We need young players to level up and take up new roles for the national team. Plus, these two show the viability of the training and development programs in Madagascar,” notes the shooting guard.

Through all those deflating results, they still find time to dwell on what they have achieved. Madagascar indeed passed the pre-qualifiers with flying colours, registering a 4-0 winning streak against Zambia and Zimbabwe.

“Knowing we made it to the qualifiers is an achievement in itself. We believed in ourselves, but our opponents were stronger. And we learnt some lessons along the way. So, it’s not half bad.”

Now that they have had a taste of what AfroBasket Qualifiers are, the Malagasy are willing to go for something else.

Botou is talking about the FIBA AfroCan (men’s basketball continental competition in Africa_, where they could also feature, should they get things right this time.

“This could be a good way to bounce back. I mean, we learnt so much from our travels and the games we played during the past year. We just can’t let this go to waste.” – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman