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Guinea men's national basketball team

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Guinea Guinea
FIBA ranking73 Increase 3 (15 August 2024)[1]
Joined FIBA1962
FIBA zoneFIBA Africa
National federationFédération Guinéenne de Basket-Ball (FeGuiBasket)
CoachŽeljko Zečević
Nickname(s)Syli nationale
(National Elephants)
AfroBasket
Appearances6
light jersey
Team colours
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dark jersey
Team colours
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The Guinea national basketball team represents Guinea in international basketball competitions. It is administered by the Fédération Guinéenne de Basket-Ball (FGBB).[2]

Guinea has played at the AfroBasket six times, with its best performance being a fourth place in 1962.

History

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Establishment as an African pioneer (1962)

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Guinea was one of five countries that participated at the African Championship 1962 in Cairo, Egypt. Guinea's fourth place finish there remains its best result at the AfroBasket.[3]

Three Afrobasket qualifications in 50 years (1964–2015)

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After the inauguration tournament, Guinea almost completely disappeared from the Afrobasket. The only exception was the time 1980–1985 where the team qualified for the Afrobasket on 3 out of 4 occasions.

Cedric Mansare becomes the leading player (2017–2020)

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For the AfroBasket 2017 qualification, Cedric Mansare made his debut for the team. The 35-year-old guard has become the go-to player for Guinea ever since. After a surprising Qualifiers campaign, in which they beat former champion and medal contender Senegal, Guinea finished the regional play-off tied with Mali (3–3) in second place, but the Guineans fell short of automatic qualification for the Final Round due to a lower goal-average. Senegal and Mali secured automatic, Cape Verde was eliminated, but Guinea was awarded a wild card – along with Rwanda. The FIBA AfroBasket 2017 marked Guinea's first appearance in the tournament in more than 32 years.[3]

Unexpected success (2021)

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At the AfroBasket 2021 qualification, with Guinea needing to beat Equatorial Guinea in the final day of the Qualifiers, Cedric Mansare made four of his eight three-pointers attempts to finish with a team-high 18 points in the 80–71 victory. Throughout the campaign, Mansare averaged 11.5 points per game. Joining Mansare as Guinea central players, were power forward Ousmane Dramé, who contributed 8.2 rebounds in six games, and guard Ahmed Doumbia. Ahmed Doumbia only played the last three games of the Qualifiers, but he was immense for Guinea, averaging 13 points and 5.7 assists. With Guinea on the brink of elimination, Doumbia explained why he didn't want to miss such opportunity. "We want to bring our flag to the AfroBasket, putting our country on the basketball map. This is my main motivation."[3]

Željko Zečević takes over (2021–present)

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In 2021, the team qualified again. This was accomplished under the Serbian head coach Željko Zečević who replaced Frenchman Michel Perrin at the helm ahead of the decisive last window of the Qualifiers in February 2021. As of 2021, Zečević had coaching experience not only as head coach of Egypt at the AfroBasket 2009 but he had also managed a number of African clubs. Some of his coaching highlights in African included a Second-Place in the 2019 FIBA AfroLeague at the helm of Morocco's AS Sale. Zečević had further led US Monastir to the Third-Place of the 2017 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup.[3]

At the AfroBasket 2021 in Kigali, Guinea was drawn in Group B alongside Central African Republic, Egypt and Tunisia, which are three former AfroBasket champions. Guinea entered as the lowest-ranked of the 16-team AfroBasket 2021 line-up.[3] Yet, they finished 8th out of 16, Guinea's best placement in almost 60 years.

Performance at AfroBasket

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Guinea has played at the AfroBasket (formerly the FIBA Africa Championship) six times, with its first appearance during the inaugural season in 1962. Its first appearance was its best one as the team finished in fourth place. After 18 years of absence, Guinea returned to the tournament in 1980 and later played in the 1983 and 1985 editions. After another 22 years of absence, the team returned in 2017. In the 2021 tournament, which Guinea qualified for through a wild card, they reached the quarter-finals for the first time.

  Fourth place  

AfroBasket record Qualification record
Year Round Position GP W L GP W L
United Arab Republic 1962 Main stage 4th 4 1 3
Morocco 1964 Did not qualify
Tunisia 1965
Morocco 1968
Egypt 1970
Senegal 1972
Central African Republic 1974
Egypt 1975
Senegal 1978
Morocco 1980 Classification stage 10th 5 0 5
Somalia 1981 Did not qualify
Egypt 1983 Classification stage 10th 5 0 5
Ivory Coast 1985 Classification stage 11th 6 1 5
Tunisia 1987 Did not qualify
Angola 1989
Egypt 1992
Kenya 1993
Algeria 1995
Senegal 1997
Angola 1999
Morocco 2001
Egypt 2003
Algeria 2005
Angola 2007
Libya 2009 Did not enter
Madagascar 2011
Ivory Coast 2013
Tunisia 2015 2 0 2 2015
Tunisia Senegal 2017 Preliminary round 16th 3 0 3 6[a] 3 3 2017
Rwanda 2021 Quarter-finals 8th 5 2 3 6 1 5 2021
Angola 2025 To be determined To be determined 2025
Total 6/30 28 4 24 19 16 3
  1. ^ Guinea received a wild card for the AfroBasket 2017.

Performance at AfroCan

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  Fourth place  

AfroCan record
Mali 2019 12th place 12th 3 0 3
Angola 2023 Did not qualify
Total 1/2 3 0 3

Team

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Current roster

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Roster for the AfroBasket 2021.[4]

Guinea men's national basketball team roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
PF 0 Mambourou Mara 18 – (2003-08-03)3 August 2003 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Centre Fédéral de Guinée Guinea
SF 1 Abdoulaye Sylla 27 – (1993-09-02)2 September 1993 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Thames Valley Cavaliers United Kingdom
PG 2 Daouda Diaby 21 – (2000-04-27)27 April 2000 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Florida Preparatory Academy United States
PG 5 Mehdi Lesbarrères 19 – (2002-01-30)30 January 2002 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) Boulazac France
SG 7 Abdoulaye Sy 26 – (1995-04-14)14 April 1995 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) CEP Lorient France
F 10 Cedric Mansare 35 – (1985-10-18)18 October 1985 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Dax-Gamarde France
SF 11 Shannon Evans 26 – (1994-11-19)19 November 1994 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Coosur Real Betis Spain
SF 13 Tidjan Keita 24 – (1996-11-30)30 November 1996 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Hapoel Be'er Sheva Israel
C 14 Daouda Conde 29 – (1992-06-10)10 June 1992 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Mulhouse France
SG 21 Ibrahima Doumbouya 23 – (1997-10-07)7 October 1997 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) UNB Reds Canada
PF 23 Cheick Conde 29 – (1992-06-20)20 June 1992 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Union Rennes 35 France
PG 24 Ibrahim Fofana 23 – (1998-06-24)24 June 1998 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) SLAC Guinea
PF 35 Mohamed Queta 26 – (1995-05-01)1 May 1995 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Saint-Chamond France
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Guinea Malick Kone
Legend
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 24 August 2021

Past rosters

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Roster for the AfroBasket 2017.[5]

Guinea men's national basketball team roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
PG 4 Malick Kone 25 – (1991-12-12)12 December 1991 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball United States
SG 5 Abdoulaye Sy 22 – (1995-04-14)14 April 1995 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Stade Marseillais UC France
SG 6 Yamoussa Kolontin Camara 21 – (1995-12-05)5 December 1995 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
F 7 Mohamed Beka Youla 29 – (1987-09-17)17 September 1987 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)
PG 8 Yacouba Sylla 28 – (1989-05-28)28 May 1989 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) BBC Nyon Switzerland
PF 9 Mohamed Souare 25 – (1992-07-12)12 July 1992 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Meyrin Basket Geneve Switzerland
SG 10 Cedric Mansare 31 – (1985-10-18)18 October 1985 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Feurs Enfants du Forez France
F 11 Ismael Conde 25 – (1992-05-07)7 May 1992 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
PF 12 Cheick Sekou Conde 25 – (1992-06-20)20 June 1992 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) CB Morón Spain
C 13 Alfa Ntiallo 24 – (1992-10-13)13 October 1992 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) Union Kavala B.C. Greece
PF 14 Daouda Vinson Conde 25 – (1992-06-10)10 June 1992 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)
PF 15 Bachir Bella Diallo 24 – (1993-05-03)3 May 1993 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Head coach
Assistant coaches

Legend
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 6 September 2017

At the 2015 Afrobasket qualification:[6]

Guinea men's national basketball team roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
Ibrahima Laho Barry 22 – (1993-06-08)8 June 1993
Donacien Camara 22 – (1993-05-24)24 May 1993
Yamoussa Kolontin Camara 19 – (1995-12-05)5 December 1995 Liberia
Georges Mahatma Gandhi Conde 25 – (1990-01-09)9 January 1990
Bachir Bella Diallo 22 – (1993-05-03)3 May 1993
Yoro Diallo 17 – (1997-12-21)21 December 1997 Guinea
Mamady Diane 20 – (1995-02-28)28 February 1995
Mamadi Keita 27 – (1988-03-10)10 March 1988
Ousmane Niang 32 – (1982-12-02)2 December 1982
Mohamed Nassirou Sankhon 18 – (1997-06-15)15 June 1997
Ibrahima Sidibe 22 – (1993-03-31)31 March 1993 Guinea
Ousmane Soumah 19 – (1995-10-16)16 October 1995 Guinea
Abdoulaye Sy 20 – (1995-04-14)14 April 1995
Naby Youssouf Sylla 22 – (1993-04-03)3 April 1993
Yacouba Sylla 26 – (1989-05-28)28 May 1989
Younoussa Toure 29 – (1985-12-02)2 December 1985
Mohamed Lamine Traore 19 – (1995-12-01)1 December 1995
Beka Youla Mohamed 27 – (1987-09-17)17 September 1987 Guinea
Head coach
Assistant coaches

Legend
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 19 August 2015

Under-18 team

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At the 2020 FIBA Africa Under-18 Championship in Cairo, Egypt, the Guineans finished fourth. The team was coached by Željko Zečević who later became head coach of Guinea's senior team.[3]

Kit

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2015 – Adidas

References

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  1. ^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 15 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  2. ^ FIBA National Federations – Guinea, fiba.com. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f AfroBasket 2021 – Team Profile: Guinea FIBA, 10 August 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Team Roster Guinea". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  5. ^ Guinea – Afrobasket 2017, FIBA.COM. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  6. ^ Guinea | 2015 African Championship for Men, ARCHIVE.FIBA.COM. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
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