DR Congo men's national basketball team explained

Country:Democratic Republic of the Congo
Coach:Emmanuel Mavomo
Joined Fiba:1963
Nickname:Leopards
Fiba Zone:FIBA Africa
National Fed:Febaco
Zone Championship:AfroBasket
Zone Appearances:7 (last in 2021)
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The DR Congo national basketball team (French: Équipe nationale de basketball de Congo DR) represents DR Congo in men's international basketball competitions, it is controlled by the Basketball Federation of Democratic Republic of Congo.[1] (French: link=no|République démocratique du Congo Fédération de basket-ball)

The team has appeared in the FIBA Africa Championship, but has yet to appear in the FIBA World Championship. Its biggest success to date was the Final Four placement at the 1975 FIBA Africa Championship when it competed as Zaire.

History

DR Congo joined the FIBA in 1963 and made their first tournament debut twelve years later, during the 1974 AfroBasket. In the following year, they played in the 1975 AfroBasket championship. Congo ended in the fourth place after a 2–3 record. After a 6th place in 1980, the team missed the tournament for the next 27 years.

During AfroBasket 2007, DR Congo returned and finished 15th.

After another 10-year absence, the country played in the AfroBasket 2017 where they reached the quarter-finals after upsetting Nigeria in the group phase.[2]

In August 2022, Jonathan Kuminga joined the Congolese team to become the first National Basketball Association (NBA) player to play for the national team.[3] Kuminga had just won his first NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors.

Performances

FIBA Basketball World Cup

DR Congo has never appeared in the FIBA Basketball World Cup, but has played in the qualifying rounds.

FIBA World Cup recordQualification record
YearRoundPosition
1963Did not qualifyAfroBasket served as qualification
1967
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
20196242019
202312572023
2027To be determinedTo be determined2027
Total0/1600018711Total

AfroBasket

Fourth place  

AfroBasket recordQualification record
YearRoundPosition
1964Did not qualify
1965
1968
1970
1972
1974Classification stage 6th 4 1 3
1975Main stage 4th 5 2 3
1978Did not qualify
1980Classification stage 6th 5 2 3
1981Did not qualify
1983
1985
1987
1989
1992
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007Classification round 15th 6 2 4
2009Did not qualify4132009
2011Did not enter
20136152013
2015Withdrew
2017Quarter-finals 6th 4 2 2 2112017
Group stage 13th 3 1 26332021
2025To be determinedTo be determined2025
Total 6/2927 10 1718612

FIBA AfroCan

See main article: article and FIBA AfroCan. Champions   Fourth place  

YearRoundPositionwidth=30 width=30 width=30
Champions 1st 5 50
4th place 4th 6 32
Total2/211 8 2

Team

Current roster

Roster in the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers of August 27, 2022.[4]

No.Pos.PlayerCurrent club
00SGJonathan Kuminga Golden State Warriors
3FNarcisse Ambanza Espoir Fukash
4GMyck Kabongo Cape Town Tigers
5GHenry Pwono Etzella
10PFJoel Ntambwe Delaware Blue Coats
11CPitchou Kambuy Manga REG
15FRolly Fula Nganga Espoir Fukash
16PFShekinah Munanga
18CJordan likanda
23FRodrigue Ebondo Tambwe
24GRon Mvouika

Head coaches

NameNationalityTenure
2017–2018
[5] 2018
[6] 2020–2022[7]
Thomas DrouotFebruary 2022 – July 2022[8]
Emmanuel MavomoAugust 2022 – May 2023

Notable eligible players

NameTeamTeam nation
Yannick NzosaUnicaja MálagaEstudiantes
Jordan SakhoBreogán
Oscar TshiebweIndiana Pacers
Emmanuel MudiayPiratas de Quebradillas

Top scorers

The following players were the DR Congo's top scorers in their AfroBasket tournaments:

DR Congo top scorers at AfroBasket!Tournament!Player!Points!PPG
2017[9] Herve Kabasele Kasonga5914.8
2021[10] Henry Pwono4816.0

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/FIBA/fibaStru/nfLeag/nfProf.asp?nationalFederationNumber=391 FIBA National Federations – Democratic Republic of the Congo
  2. Web site: DR Congo mourns passing of former national teams head coach Papy Kiembe . 2022-08-30 . FIBA.basketball . en.
  3. Web site: 2022-08-26 . Emmanuel Mavomo: "We want to be the first to qualify the DRC for the World Cup" . 2022-08-30 . African News Paper . en-US.
  4. Web site: Congo DR at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 African Qualifiers . 2022-08-27 . FIBA.basketball . en.
  5. Web site: DR Congo appoint Douaglin as head coach in bid to qualify for World Cup . FIBA.basketball . 29 August 2021 . en.
  6. Web site: Kayembe excited about new DR Congo sophisticated style . FIBA.basketball . 29 August 2021 . en.
  7. Web site: AfroBasket 2021 - Team Profile: Democratic Republic of Congo . 2022-08-30 . FIBA.basketball . en.
  8. Web site: Demba . Varore . 2022-02-17 . Basketball : la RD Congo engage un nouvel entraîneur pour les qualifications au Mondial 2023 . 2022-08-31 . Sport News Africa . fr-FR.
  9. Web site: Dem.Rep. of Congo at the FIBA Afrobasket 2017 . 2022-09-11 . FIBA.basketball . en.
  10. Web site: Congo DR at the FIBA AfroBasket 2021 . 2022-09-11 . FIBA.basketball . en.