Wikipedia

DR Congo men's national basketball team

Not to be confused with Republic of the Congo national basketball team.
This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see DR Congo women's national basketball team.

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.[2] (French: République démocratique du Congo Fédération de basket-ball)

Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo
FIBA ranking73 Decrease 1 (1 March 2024)[1]
Joined FIBA1963
FIBA zoneFIBA Africa
National federationFebaco
CoachEmmanuel Mavomo
Nickname(s)Leopards
AfroBasket
Appearances7 (last in 2021)

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 edit

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.[3]

In August 2022, Jonathan Kuminga joined the Congolese team to become the first National Basketball Association (NBA) player to play for the national team.[4] Kuminga had just won his first NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors.

Performances edit

FIBA Basketball World Cup edit

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

FIBA World Cup record Qualification record
Year Round Position GP W L GP W L –
  1963 Did not qualify AfroBasket served as qualification
  1967
  1970
  1974
  1978
  1982
  1986
  1990
  1994
  1998
  2002
  2006
  2010
  2014
  2019 6 2 4 2019
    2023 12 5 7 2023
  2027 To be determined To be determined 2027
Total 0/16 0 0 0 18 7 11 Total

AfroBasket edit

  Fourth place  

AfroBasket record Qualification record
Year Round Position GP W L GP W L –
  1964 Did not qualify
  1965
  1968
  1970
  1972
  1974 Classification stage 6th 4 1 3
  1975 Main stage 4th 5 2 3
  1978 Did not qualify
  1980 Classification stage 6th 5 2 3
  1981 Did not qualify
  1983
  1985
  1987
  1989
  1992
  1993
  1995
  1997
  1999
  2001
  2003
  2005
  2007 Classification round 15th 6 2 4
  2009 Did not qualify 4 1 3 2009
  2011 Did not enter
  2013 6 1 5 2013
  2015 Withdrew
    2017 Quarter-finals 6th 4 2 2 2 1 1 2017
  2021 Group stage 13th 3 1 2 6 3 3 2021
  2025 To be determined To be determined 2025
Total 6/29 27 10 17 18 6 12 –

FIBA AfroCan edit

Main article: FIBA AfroCan

  Champions     Fourth place  

Year Round Position GP W L
  2019 Champions 1st 5 5 0
  2023 4th place 4th 6 3 2
Total 2/2 11 8 2

Team edit

Current roster edit

Roster in the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers of August 27, 2022.[5]

No. Pos. Player Current club
00 SG Jonathan Kuminga   Golden State Warriors
3 F Narcisse Ambanza   Espoir Fukash
4 G Myck Kabongo   Cape Town Tigers
5 G Henry Pwono   Etzella
10 PF Joel Ntambwe   Delaware Blue Coats
11 C Pitchou Kambuy Manga   REG
15 F Rolly Fula Nganga   Espoir Fukash
16 PF Shekinah Munanga   Évreux
18 C Jordan likanda   CB Breogán
23 F Rodrigue Ebondo Tambwe   SOA
24 G Ron Mvouika   Plymouth Raiders

Head coaches edit

Name Nationality Tenure
Papy Kipunka Kiembe   DR Congo 2017–2018[3]
John Douaglin[6]   France 2018
Mathias Eckhoff[7]   Norway 2020–2022[8]
Thomas Drouot   France February 2022 – July 2022[9]
Emmanuel Mavomo   DR Congo August 2022 – May 2023[4]

Notable eligible players edit

Name Team Team nation
Bismack Biyombo Oklahoma City Thunder   United States
Yannick Nzosa Unicaja Málaga → Estudiantes   Spain
Jordan Sakho Breogán   Spain
Oscar Tshiebwe Indiana Pacers   United States
Emmanuel Mudiay Piratas de Quebradillas   Puerto Rico

Top scorers edit

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[10] Herve Kabasele Kasonga 59 14.8
2021[11] Henry Pwono 48 16.0

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  2. ^ FIBA National Federations – Democratic Republic of the Congo, fiba.com. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  3. ^ a b "DR Congo mourns passing of former national teams head coach Papy Kiembe". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Emmanuel Mavomo: "We want to be the first to qualify the DRC for the World Cup"". African News Paper. 26 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Congo DR at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 African Qualifiers". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  6. ^ "DR Congo appoint Douaglin as head coach in bid to qualify for World Cup". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Kayembe excited about new DR Congo sophisticated style". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  8. ^ "AfroBasket 2021 - Team Profile: Democratic Republic of Congo". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  9. ^ Demba, Varore (17 February 2022). "Basketball : la RD Congo engage un nouvel entraîneur pour les qualifications au Mondial 2023". Sport News Africa (in French). Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Dem.Rep. of Congo at the FIBA Afrobasket 2017". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Congo DR at the FIBA AfroBasket 2021". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 11 September 2022.

External links edit

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