The Arab Basketball Championship wrapped up on the third of January with the Egyptian National Team securing the win going undefeated throughout the contest. Egypt crowned their championship by beating Libya in the finals.
The overall standings are as follows:Group Stage Standings:
Group A Wins Losses
Libya 3 0
Algeria 2 1
Somalia 1 2
Mauritania 0 3
Group B Wins Losses
Egypt 4 0
Tunisia 3 1
UAE 2 2
Kuwait 1 3
Morocco 0 4
Team Analysis
Egypt:Egypt was by far the favorites in the competition. Amr Gendy led the squad with 15.3 points per game on 54.8% from 2 and 35% from 3. One of the benefits of the Egyptian squad had over the rest of the other countries was their depth in their roster. Not a single person on the Egyptian squad averaged more than 22 minutes per game across the entire competition.
Libya
For those unfamiliar with basketball in the Arab World, you might be surprised to see Libya being so dominant in the region. Libya was the only other country that went undefeated in the group stages other than Egypt. Omar Fawaz led the team in points per game and minutes per game at 19.3 and 36.8 respectively.
Tunisia
Tunisia finished the competition in 3rd place by beating the UAE in the last stage of the playoffs. Tunisia is another giant in the Arab and African basketball scene along with their North African neighbors of Egypt, Libya, Algeria, and Morocco. Omar Abada lead the team with 17 points per game across the 7 games they played throughout the contest.
Algeria
Algeria played fairly well in the group stages of the tournament, ending second in group A. However, Algeria underperformed in the knockout stage, losing to the UAE in the first round 73-79.
UAE
The UAE ended the competition 4th overall overachieving in some regards. The two matches they lost in the group stages were against Egypt and Tunisia, the two teams they would go onto lose to in the elimination stage in the semi-finals and game for 3rd place respectively. Marco Dickerson led the UAE team in scoring, ending the tournament as second overall in points per game.
Somalia
Somalia was somewhat of a dark horse for many people coming into the tournament. Not much was known about the roster prior to the competition, and in some ways the squad performed as expected but with a few standout players. Foad Jamaal lead the Somali squad in scoring 22.8 points per game.
Kuwait
For fans of the KBL and West Asia Super League, you might be a little underwhelmed with Kuwait’s performance compared to the dominance that is seen in the respective pro leagues. Kuwait finished with 1 win and 3 losses, only winning to Morocco.
Mauritania
Mauritania was another dark horse coming into this competition like Somalia. Mauritania went winless throughout the competition going 0 and 3. Gaw Aleen led the team in scoring with 17 points per game on 47% shooting in 2 point range.
Morocco
Morocco greatly underperformed throughout the tournament, going winless throughout the contest. Morocco has one of the most competitive basketball leagues in Africa and countries in the Arab Basketball Confederacy.