The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 has come and gone but in the final review of the 32-team championship, Nigeria and young talent Josh Okogie have been rated the top national team in Africa and best young talent in the continent respectively.
Top national team: Nigeria. Being the top national team on this list is small consolation for Alexander Nwora’s side, but the D’Tigers fell well short of the lofty goals they had set for themselves. Many thought they would reach the Second Round, but in the end they could not place ahead of Argentina and Russia in Group B. They did earn direct qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as the best-placed African team.
Top scorer: Salah Mejri, Tunisia. The big man was 18th overall at 16.2 points a game while ranking third in rebounds (10.2 rebounds per game) and the tournament’s blocks leader with 3.2 swats per game. Mejri also ranked third in efficiency at 25.2 per game.
Youth standout: Josh Okogie, Nigeria. The former USA youth national team player was Nigeria’s star with 12.6 points, 4.4 assists, 3.6 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 1.2 blocks – all that as a 21-year-old.
Other top performances: Senegal center Youssoupha Ndoye had two double-doubles in averaging 11.8 points and 6.2 rebounds to go with 1.4 blocks while Tunisia’s Makram Ben Romdhane collected 13.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals including flirting with a triple-double of 20 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists against Angola.