Angola National Team

[Mojado]

Jose Carlos Guimaraes will probably coach the NT in Venezuela. Manuel Trovoada and Jaime Prades will be assistants.
Miguel Kiala is out due to a knee injury.
Valdelicio Joaquim and Moreira are in the US but may join the rest of the team for the camp.

Carlos Almeida, Armando Costa, Domingos Bonifácio, Leonel Paulo, Kikas Gomes, Felizardo Ambrósio (1º de Agosto)
Roberto Fortes, Paulo Barros, Carlos Morais, Divaldo Mbunga (Petro de Luanda), Olímpio Cipriano and Luís Costa (Libolo)
Milton Barros and Eduardo Mingas (Interclube)

[carlo]

Angolan NT lost by a narrow margin the first of a two-game series vs Argentina in Luanda, 71-69.

http://www.cabb.com.ar/noticia_ficha.php?id=5758

[rikhardur]

Angolan NT lost by a narrow margin the first of a two-game series vs Argentina in Luanda, 71-69.

http://www.cabb.com.ar/noticia_ficha.php?id=5758

According to this, it was the Angolan U23 NT.


José Carlos Guimarães has been confirmed as the national team coach.

Preliminary roster for the Olympics additional qualifying round:

Leonel Paulo, Carlos Almeida, Armando Costa, Kikas Gomes, Felizardo Ambrósio (1º de Agosto), Carlos Morais, Paulo Barros, Roberto Fortes, Divaldo Mbunga, Paulo Santana (Petro de Luanda), Jorge Tati, Eduardo Mingas, Milton Barros (Interclube), Olímpio Cipriano e Luís Costa (Libolo), Yanick Moreira e Valdelicio Joaquim (EUA).

http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/p...125425fe0.html

[carlo]

According to this, it was the Angolan U23 NT.

...

That's right, and Argentina sent a "B" NT.

[JGX]

Argentina won the second game 66-48 despite the absence of Walter Herrmann who scored 26 in the first game.
http://es-us.deportes.yahoo.com/noti...1108--spt.html

[CKR13]

Will Guimarães coach the NT for next year's Afrobasket as well?

EDIT:

Found it.

Angola: Interclube’s coach resigns to focus on national team

[rikhardur]

ANG - Guimarães dismisses concerns about injury-hit Tall Blacks

LUANDA (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) – Injuries have robbed New Zealand of two key players for this summer’s FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) but Group D opponents Angola aren’t drawing extra encouragement ahead of their forthcoming showdown.

The Tall Blacks, who have Kirk Penney (calf) and Tom Abercrombie (ankle) ruled out of the OQT, and Angola meet on 4 July in Caracas, Venezuela.

The clash could decide which team advances to the Quarter-Finals of the event.

“Let me tell you this,” Angola’s newly-appointed head coach José Carlos Guimarães said to FIBA.com.

“(Team USA’s) Chris Bosh is out with an injury and it has not stopped the Miami Heat from winning (play-off) games.

“Without one or two players, they remain a strong opponent.

“Who knows if New Zealand has substitute players waiting for an opportunity like this?

“We never know how other players will react.

“It may encourage others to step up, impress and ending up doing better.”

The other side in Group D at the 12-team OQT is the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

Angola veterans return

While the Tall Blacks will be without two vital players, Angola will welcome two of theirs back.

Olímpio Cipriano and Carlos Almeida, players who did not represent the country at last year’s Afrobasket, are in the preliminary squad and both are expected to be big contributors in Venezuela.

Guimarães says that both players bring experience to the squad, but that “they will be treated like anybody else in the team.”

Cipriano has just helped Recreativo do Libolo win their first Angolan league title.

“He was the MVP in the Angolan league in the past two seasons, and we welcome his return to the national team,” the 48-year-old coach said.

Unexpectedly, 2008 Olympian Luis Costa declined to join the 17-men preliminary team for personal reasons.

His decision has led to Guimarães calling 21-year-old shooting guard Edson Ndoniema into the squad.

Ndoniema played for Angola at the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship in New Zealand.

Angola’s second-place finish at Afrobasket 2011 in Madagascar meant it was the first time the national team had missed out on direct qualification for an Olympic Games in 20 years.

“We are going to Caracas with the same spirit that characterizes the Angolan national team, which is playing at a high level, fighting for every possession and never giving up,” said Guimarães, a former international player himself.

“I keep saying that our perimeter shooters will have an important role in our attempt to qualify for the Olympics, but so will our big men in the paint.”

FYROM showed at last summer’s EuroBasket in Lithuania that they are going to be tough opposition for any side they come up against.

They surprised the tournament hosts in the Quarter-Finals before falling to eventual champions Spain and then Russia in the bronze-medal game.

“They finished fourth at last year’s EuroBasket,” Guimarães said.

“Does it mean anything?

“To me, yes it does.

“They are a good team that we are looking forward to facing.

“Their quotient of competiveness is quite high and we are working to equal them.”

Angola have the highest spot in the FIBA World Rankings of the three Group D sides at 15th.

New Zealand are 18th and FYROM are 33rd.

“We cannot relax because of our ranking,” Guimarães said.

“We are above our OQT opponents in the FIBA World Rankings and we must work even harder to keep our world status.”

Angola are to travel to São Paulo, Brazil, after a two-week training camp in Spain.

They are expected to arrive in Caracas for the OQT on 24 June.

At the event, which tips off on 2 July, three places are available for the 2012 Olympic Games.

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/new...sReleArti.html

[sixama23]

The Angolan NT is practising in Spain right now. All invited players are in the camp except Yanick Moreira who is still in the States. Next stage of preparation is gonna take part in Brazil. The team will play two friendly games in Spain and compete at the Nations Tournament in Brazil, along with DR, Jordan and New Zealand.

Source: http://jornaldosdesportos.sapo.ao/27...cao_em_espanha

[Mojado]

Yanick Moreira will not join the national-team for the OQT due to academical reasons.
The 15 players in Spain are:Olímpio Cipriano, Armando Costa, Leonel Paulo, Joaquim Gomes “Kikas”, Eduardo Mingas, Carlos Morais, Valdelicio Joaquim, Roberto Fortes, Paulo Santana, Milton Barros, Felizardo Ambrósio, Hermenegildo Mbunga, Edson Ndoniema, Paulo Barros and Jorge Taty.

[rikhardur]

Forwards Edson Ndoniema and Jorge Tati have been cut.

[JGX]

Angola 90 Jordan 73

[CKR13]

Valdelicio Joaquim notched a milestone for his college career for the University of Hawaii: 1000 points scored.

[rikhardur]

Looks like China will be joined by the Angolan NT in the future as far as fake ages is concerned Players in the U18 national championship suspected of forging birth dates (Googlenglish).

[CKR13]

ANG – Looking to finish on top

LUANDA (Afrobasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - The Angolan men aren’t going to hit the panic button, despite a frustrating couple of summers in international competition.

Angola travelled to Madagascar to compete at Afrobasket 2011 with a full head of steam, winners of 10 of the previous 11 African titles dating back to 1989 and fresh off an appearance at the FIBA World Championship where the team advanced to the Eight-Finals.

After a tournament-opening, 115-56 rout of Chad in Antananarivo, though, everything went awry.

Angola fell 85-78 to Senegal and midway through the tournament, the federation removed Frenchman Michel Gomez as coach and promoted his assistant, Jaime Covilha, to the top job.

The Angolans came from behind in the Quarter-Finals and beat Cameroon in overtime, 84-83, and then defeated Nigeria, 76-68.

But Tunisia outshone the Angolans in the gold-medal game, winning 67-56, to clinch a place at the London Games.

Then, following the appointment of José Carlos Guimaraes as coach, Angola played at the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Caracas, Venezuela.

The Africans overcame The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD), only to then lose to New Zealand and Russia to miss out on the London Games.

Change has happened in Angola, most notably at the helm of the country's basketball federation where Paulo Madeira was elected president in December.

A good preparation will be key for Angola as they gear up for the Afrobasket, which is to be held in Cote d'Ivoire this summer.

Which teams Angola will face in warm-up games?

Madeira has pledged: "We will initiate contacts with strong teams to test our capabilities."

As for the national team's chances of getting back to the top of the Afrobasket podium, the president said: "I believe we will win."

Competition will be fierce in Cote d'Ivoire, with the host nation hoping to ride its home-court advantage to the title.

Tunisia will go into the event full of determination, looking to claim a second straight gold medal.

The Tunisians' center Salah Mejri, the MVP of Afrobasket 2011, signed for Blusens Monbus (Obradoiro C.A.B.) in Spain's Liga Endesa after playing at the Olympics and has been a big hit.

Another team has the full attention of Madeira as well.

Nigeria made it successfully through the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament to play in London and will travel to Cote d’Ivoire intent on capturing gold.

Madeira said that national team "has evolved considerably. We have to be more attentive to Nigeria."

-FIBA

[CKR13]

Angola is said to be attending three tournaments in Brazil, Spain and Croatia.

[rikhardur]

Paulo Madeira, president of the Angolan Basketball Federation, aims for the medals at the upcoming Afrobasket, but not necessarily gold. The goal is to qualify for the World Cup even if with silver or bronze.

[rikhardur]

Angola will miss veteran G Carlos Almeida who retired from the NT.