Diaspora Drop All-Kalahari Conference Awards
March madness got started a week early in Africa with the start to season four of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) in Pretoria, South Africa. Check out our picks for conference awards below.
The inaugural season for the Kalahari conference in the BAL was much more than an exciting way to begin the fourth season of Africa’s premier basketball league. Unexpected upsets, passionate comebacks and controversial storylines took center stage as the first leg of the BAL offered intriguing outcomes.
As FUS Rabat topped the conference with a 3-1 record, Petro de Luanda maintained a second place finish and the Cape Town Tigers finished last since Dynamo BBC was disqualified from competition. FUS and Petro punched their tickets to the playoffs in Kigali, Rwanda taking place in June and Cape Town is left to hope for a third place ticket depending on results from other conferences.
A few special players deserved recognition so our team convened to provide individual awards and an all-conference and honorable mention team featuring top performers from the Kalahari conference.
Kalahari All-Conference Team
John Jordan🇺🇸 — FUS Rabat
16.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 4.5 APG, 1.5 SPG
John Jordan continued the stellar play he displayed during the qualifiers by leading FUS Rabat to a masterful win over Petro de Luanda and kept that pace against the rest of the conference. He has incredible athleticism, allowing him to jump passing lanes and sky for extra possession creating offensive rebounds. Jordan is a complete player, giving FUS exactly what they needed depending on the opponent whether it was 3-point shooting, making plays for the big men or playing lockdown perimeter defense.
Childe Dundão🇦🇴 — Petro de Luanda
13.5 PPG, 3 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.3 SPG
At the age of 25, Childe Dundão is already a BAL veteran and he played like it, using his devastating speed to make defenders pay for going under screens or getting downhill to his patented floater. He regularly attracted multiple defenders creating mismatches and open looks for his teammates. Defensively, Dundão is a pesky defender using his speed & agility to frustrate opponents.
Samkelo Cele🇿🇦 — Cape Town Tigers
21.6 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.0 APG, 2.2 SPG
As competition started, it was clear that Cape Town lacked a level of chemistry and structure so Samkelo Cele took it upon himself to lead the team offensively. Efficiency may have been an issue because of the tough shots taken but his spark was needed and Cele was clutch when it mattered and made contested long and mid-range jump shots and floaters. His defense never wavered as steals led him to transition buckets.
Ayoub Nouhi🇲🇦 — FUS Rabat
10.8 PPG, 1.3 RPG, 3.3 APG
Ayoub Nouhi loves to slash and attack the seams of a defense after getting them to rotate. His team is unselfish with defined roles and Nouhi’s role was clearly to drive when he saw openings and to get to the rim in transition. Despite his attacking mindset, he also found others in positions to score.
Aliou Diarra🇲🇦 — FUS Rabat
15 .0 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 2.3 BPG
The best thing Aliou Diarra could’ve done after such an impressive debut season in the BAL was to join a team as complete as FUS. Diarra can comfortably show his dominance without overexerting himself, knowing the team has other weapons too. Diarra showed his quick twitch athleticism and coordination with acrobatic finishes, magical rejections and thunderous dunks. He has great timing allowing him to anticipate what the opposing team will run, showing up for timely steals and deflections in the half court.
Kalahari Co-Players of the Year
John Jordan & Aliou Diarra
Kalahari Defensive Player of the Year
Aliou Diarra
Kalahari Newcomer of the Year
John Jordan
Kalahari Coach of the Year
Said El Bouzidi
Kalahari Honorable Mention
Cartier Diarra🇲🇱 — Cape Town Tigers
Carlos Morais🇦🇴 — Petro de Luanda
Billy Preston🇺🇸 — Cape Town Tigers
Aboubacar Gakou🇦🇴 — Petro de Luanda
Abdelhakim Zouita🇲🇦 — FUS Rabat