Africa-Press – Angola. Petro de Luanda and 1.o de Agosto play again in a play-offs in the National Senior Men’s Basketball Championship three years later, in a struggle for hegemony in the event that lasts for decades.
The race for the title of the 45th National Championship starts this Wednesday, from 19h00, in the Cidadela Desportiva pavilion.
In the last two seasons, the trophy fell to Petro de Luanda, and in 2021 it won in an “atypical” way, for the first position in the regular phase.
In 2022, the trump card was due to a 3-0 victory against Interclube, in the “play-offs”, the best of five games, just like this time.
These are the two most consecrated teams in the country in terms of basketball, with the “military” commanding the ranking with 19 cups, followed by the “oil sector”, with 15.
The Cidadela pavilion, “home” of the national champions, will once again be the stage for a final of the biggest competition in Angolan basketball, with contenders that guide the level of the sport in Angola.
Contrary to previous years, the board of the Angolan Basketball Federation (FAB) decided that this final would be played entirely in the same venue, given the limited space in the Victorino Cunha pavilion, which belongs to 1.o de Agosto.
Who is who
Petro de Luanda, which won the title in the last three seasons, finds in its coach, the Brazilian José Neto, one of the greatest exponents.
Aged 52 and with a solid service record, he won the last two national championships, two Supercups, an equal number of Angolan Cups, as well as regularly on the podium in the African Basketball League (BAL – acronym in English) obtaining a third position in the first edition, in 2021 and a second, in 2022.
Without ever having lost to his opponent since 2020, who climbed Angola, José Neto still has an ephemeral passage through the senior men’s National Team.
In this season alone, it surpassed its rival in the Super Cup with a 99-92 victory, a double victory in the regular phase of the National Championship, by 99-94 and 108-77. The last victory took place in March in the semi-final of the Angola Cup, by 85-79.
In a press conference to launch the challenge, Jose Neto considered that it is always difficult to face the competitor and hopes that his players present themselves with the same good competitive level of the regular phase.
“We haven’t won anything yet. It will be a difficult final because the opponent is strong and deserves our respect”, he stressed, adding, however, that the objective is to win the game.
To this end, the coach has a squad of stars led by base Childe Dundão, well accompanied by veterans Carlos Morais, Gerson Lukeny, Jone Pedro Aboubakar Gakou, Gerson Domingos and Teotónio Dó.
This list also includes Pedro Bastos, Aldemiro João and Glofate Buiamba, despite being less used during the regular phase, in addition to the two acquisitions from Africa and America.
This is Souleyman Diabate, base from Côte d’Ivoire who was distinguished in BAL by Al Ittihad from Libya.
36 years old, 1.83 meters tall and 76 kg, the Ivorian national team player has proved to be important in the “tricolor” emblem.
Midway through the season, 34-year-old North American Damian Hollis arrived. This player, from Fabriano Basket in Italy, in addition to evolving under the basket, is also a short and long distance scorer.
1.o de Agosto, on the other hand, reappears in the midst of a financial crisis, as demonstrated by the modest fourth place in the previous edition.
Inconstant even in terms of coaches, José Carlos Guimarães, Manuel Sousa “Necas” and Walter Costa, former continental champions trained at home, have passed through the Augustine team in recent years.
The resurrection of this team was possible, curiously, due to the hiring of a coach who had played for the opponent. Therefore, whatever the outcome of this final, Lazare Adingono is already considered a restorer.
In addition to the arrival of Adingono, the team gained strength with the rise of some players from the B formation that have become reinforcements.
Milton Valente, Macachi Brás, Délcio Sebastião are examples of this, who joined the experienced Edson Ndoniema, Islando Manuel, Felizardo Ambrósio, Hermenegildo Santos and Tarcio Domingos.
The team gained the necessary consistency with the hiring in the last stage of the championship of two foreign assets in March.
Jordan Aboudou, French nationality, 32 years old and 2.01 tall, comes from AS Monaco in the first division of the French League.
He was joined by winger Nico Clareth, a 25-year-old American, who is 1.91 m tall and weighs 91 kg.
These two athletes prove to be important in maneuvering the team, fundamentally in this final stage of the National Championship. They have already been there before, in the Angola Cup, where 1.o de Agosto lost in the semi-final to Petro, by 77-108, in the last duel between the two giants of Angolan basketball.
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