Root for the Underdogs! The 2008 Angola Men's National Basketball Team


Dear hoops fans,

I imagine you'll watch all of the USA men's Olympic basketball games, and if you're like me you'll find the games much more interesting if you know a little about their opponents (that way, you'll have the answers to questions like "who's the little Spanish dude chasing Chris Paul around?" or "will that 7-foot Iranian ever get off the bench?"). There's plenty of info out there about host country China and Yao, and you're surely familiar with Spain and their 3 or 4 NBA'ers, with Germany and Dirk, and with the Greeks from their win over the US at the World Championships in Japan two years ago. So those four Group B games will be interesting and at least a little familiar. But what about that other team in Group B?


"The only thing I know about Angola is they're in trouble" – Charles Barkley, 1992
From a media standpoint, not much has changed since 1992 regarding Angola. In reading the Olympic previews I've found virtually nothing on their Game 2 opponents (other than ESPN's Chris Sheridan predicting that the USA is "99.999 percent certain to put a whupping on Angola in their second preliminary-round game"). This lack of coverage is understandable of course - the unknown Angolans vs. USA is never a marquee match-up and the Africans have such a minute chance of winning that it's easier to just put an X in the USA win column and move on to the rest of the group and concentrate on the medal round.

And of course in basketball circles "USA vs. Angola" still carries the branding of their first-ever meeting almost 16 years ago in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Apart from that 116-48 shellacking (a 68-point difference), the game is perhaps most remembered for the image of Charles Barkley standing over an Angolan opponent after elbowing him to the ground. "Somebody hits me, I'm going to hit them back. Even if it doesn't look like he's eaten in a while," Barkley said afterwards.

Knowingly or not, Barkley evoked the difficult conditions in which the majority of Angola's population were struggling at that time, conditions which unfortunately still ring somewhat true today. Though slowly recovering from its 27-year civil war, Angola still ranks in the bottom 10 of socio-economic conditions in the world, has an economy in disarray and an average life expectancy of 38 years. And yet, amid all the chaos, Angola has developed into a powerhouse of basketball in Africa: 4-time African representative to the Olympic Games and winner of 8 of the last 9 African Championships.

So the Angola team that the USA will take on in '08 will be a far cry from the team that Barkley, Jordan et al obliterated in '92. This Angola is a talented and interesting team, and though they'll still struggle to compete with the Americans, they' a fun team to watch and they deserve a little Olympic coverage.


The team
I first saw the Angolan national team play live at the 2005 African Championships in Algeria, which they won and which qualified them for the 2006 World Championships. The team has remained more or less unchanged since then.

Angola totally dominated the competition in Algeria, but that's Africa, against African competition, so it's difficult to get a reading on how good they are from those games. What does being the best in Africa mean? I'm not sure of the answer, but being the best in Africa by far, as Angola was, surely counts for something.

I got a closer look at at the Angolan team when they were competing in Japan at the World Championships in 2006. Angola was ranked #14 in the world going into the tournament, and here are their results from that competition:

Game 1: Easily beat Panama (83-70, the score's closer than the game).

Game 2: Easily beat host Japan (87-62)

Game 3: Easily beat world #13 New Zealand (95-73)

Game 4: Lost to world #3 (& World Champion) Spain by 10 points (93-83). Gasol took over at the end and Spain as a team shot 60% from the field.

Game 5: Lost to world # 9 Germany in triple overtime (108-103) in one of the most exciting games of the tournament. Dirk Nowitzki scored 47 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, was 17-17 from the line, and sent in a 3-pointer with one second left in the first overtime to force the second, then scored 11 of his team's 13 points in the third overtime.

Game 6: In the Eight-Finals Angola lost to world #8 France by 6 points (68-62) on their worst shooting day of the tournament (36%). Against France they showed a rare case of nerves, and they never recovered from the first quarter in which they only scored 6 points(!) and trailed by a score of 17-6.

They finished #9 in the competition standings and they remained at #14 in the world rankings.


Angola's Strengths
So what strengths did Angola show in Japan?

They pass the ball well, they can score points and they can all shoot the ball. They spread the floor, draw their opponent's big men out to the perimeter and then move the ball patiently until they find room to drive and dish or hit the outside jumper.

They can get back into a game or pull away real quickly with their 3-point shooting. France led by 8 or 10 points for the entire game but it felt like a 2-point game, because everyone in the arena knew that Angola was perfectly capable of striking quickly with a couple of 3's and pulling even in a matter of a few seconds.

They never give up - leads are not safe with these guys. They play tenacious defense, they're very aggressive and persistent, and they have great pride. So even down by double-digits they keep coming and coming, make a few stops on D, get a couple of 3's, and they're back in it.

They run and run and run, using a 9 or 10 player rotation to keep the players fresh and at full speed. One of their strategies is to wear down their opponents, who are almost never in as good condition as they are.

Basically, they play the way I think basketball should be played: good ball movement, pesky defense, lots of hustle, with lots of pride and for the full 48 (or 40) minutes. That's a good enough reason for me to like the team.

But maybe the most important aspect of this team is that they're a real team, not a group of all-stars thrown together once a year for a few weeks. Every single member of the national team plays on either Petro Atletico or Primeiro de Agosto, the top two teams in the country's professional league (who incidentally pay better than most European clubs). So, in essence, they're actually teammates already, all year long. And as a national team they play maybe 20 games a year, including during their 2-month training regimen to prepare for the international competitions.

Another reason to like the team is that they're all really good guys. Really. I followed the team for two years while shooting a documentary and I can say that they carry themselves in a real professional manner and are truly gentlemen. There's a certain pride attached to playing for Angola's national team and the players are huge stars in their country. They take the team seriously, in part because they know how much joy they bring their country because for the longest time the good news of their victories was almost the only good news the country could count on during the trying times of civil war.

Angola has matured greatly as a national team since 1992, from the administration, coaching, and preparation all the way down to the players. Once they locked up a place in the 92 Olympics, they held on and have become fixtures on the international basketball tour, giving them the invaluable experience of playing against better and better competition and allowing for some continuity. And each year they seem to get better.

So, Angola '92 - not so good. Angola '08 - much much better.


Angola's Weaknesses
Size is Angola's major weakness. They're small, with no player on the team standing over 6'8". That hurts them on both sides of the court more than anything else. I still can't understand why in a basketball-crazy country of 12 million people they can't find a few 7-footers. Angola has no choice but to play small-ball, and they do it well.

One of their better big men, Abdel-Aziz Boukar, has been injured and hasn't played much in the past year. He's made the roster because the team needs as much size as it can get, but if he's not at full speed the team loses lots of rebounds, blocked shots, and tough interior defense.

Angola will also be playing for the first time in a long time without one of the best players on the continent, Miguel Lutonda, who retired at 36 years old after last year's African Championships. At 6'1", Lutonda was once a high-flying dunker and scorer, but later in his career he turned into the wily veteran who ran the team and took the big shots - making them most of the time. Who will take Lutonda's place?

Considering the competition, coaching will be considered a weakness for Angola if only because Coach Carvalho has only been at the helm for two years and so has not had as much international coaching experience as the other guys. Still, he's done a great job so far in international play, bringing the team further than it's ever been in the 2006 World Championships, where they finished 9th.


So, what will happen when the USA takes on Angola in just a few days? The Americans will win. After all, Angola had also made a good deal of progress by 2004 when they participated in the Athens Olympics, and they were still crushed by the Americans by 30-plus points - and this American team should be much better than the 2004 version. Also, in a game where match-ups can be as important as anything else, Angola never seem to match-up well with the Americans. They play every other team fairly tough - they recently beat China and lost to Australia on a last second 3 - but they have not yet been able to give the USA a tough match. Even so, I'm quite certain that what should be the easiest game for the Americans will in no way be a cake-walk.

And even if it is, wouldn't it be more interesting anyway to know a little something about those little guys chasing the big Americans around?


Players to watch:

#4 - Olimpio Cipriano, 6'4", SF, 26 yrs. He's the most skilled player on the team, a real baller and a scorer. He played on the Pistons' summer league team a few years ago and is on the Cavs' radar as well. He can get to the basket, he's a decent shooter and he's got hops. He's creative on offense and athletic enough to be a good defender, though defense may be one of his few weak points.

#10 - Joaquim "Kikas" Gomes, 6'8" PF, 28 yrs. The leader and MVP of the team. Played four years at Valparaiso on a scholarship and has since settled into his place as the face of Angolan basketball. He's a good all-around player, who can have a big impact on both ends of the court. Like the rest of his teammates, Kikas is on the small side for his position but plays big. In Japan he held his own against the other big men, and against Gasol and Spain he scored 24 points and collected 11 rebounds.

#6 - Carlos Morais, 6'3", 23 yrs, SG. A young up-and-coming star in Angola, he's on a few NBA scouts' radars as well. Played high school ball in Atlanta and turned down college scholarships to return home and make big bucks. He's still hoping to make the leap from the Angolan league to Europe (for the right price) or the NBA. Like Cipriano he's skilled, can attack the basket and finish, but he's also stronger than Cipriano. His outside shot and defense need work.

#7 - Milton Barros, 6'0" PG, 24 yrs. Full speed on defense, full speed on offense. Milton handles most of the point duties and makes his defender work hard to cover him. He's a good shooter and despite his size he isn't afraid to drive the lane and draw the foul.

#15 - Eduardo Mingas, 6'7", PF, 29 yrs. A workhorse, former MVP of Angola's national league who, like his teammate Kikas, plays bigger than his size. He's strong and doesn't get flustered, he's good on the offensive glass and is also a decent passer.

#5 - Armando Costa, PG, 6'3". Provides a steady hand at the point, looks mostly for the assist and isn't a big scorer. Plays good defense and doesn't turn the ball over. Can shoot it if he's open.

#13 - Carlos Almeida, 6'3", 32 yrs., SG. Since Lutonda's retirement, Almeida is now the veteran. He's a calming influence and a good defender and helps the offense flow when he's in the game.

#12 - Abdel Aziz Boukar, 6'8" C 28 yrs, Big tall kid from Chad who became an Angolan citizen because his country didn't have a national team. Had the NBA interested in him for a while but his window is closed now. Abdel's a good defender, rebounder and shot blocker, and he also passes the ball well and shoots decently. He understands the game and brings a lot of intangibles to the court. He's coming off an injury and missed all of last season.

#11 - Felizardo Ambrosio, 21 yrs, 6'7". Young, won't play much, but is the future "big man" of the team and has been getting some good experience over the last few years.

#8 - Luis Costa, 6'4", 30 yrs., G. Probably won't play much but when he comes off the bench he's ready to shoot.



- Eric Drury
Eric Drury is a documentary filmmaker and freelance journalist based in Paris, France and Bangkok, Thailand.