Found this article on Badiane, lets see if he can dominate this under 20's African championship! 22/07/2004 FIBA Africa - Badiane plays U20 July is a very busy month for youth categories national teams around the world. Yet the U20 African championship final for men round will be played from this weekend 24th July until 1st August 2004 in Dakar, Senegal. FIBA Africa announced that the 10 following teams will compete: Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, RD Congo, and Angola. One young player might be the eyes catcher of the Tournament. The 20 years old Senegalese Frankfurt Skyliner center Malick Badiane (211-F/C-84) will surely be a precious help for his team when looking back at what he has already achieved in his short basketball career. Badiane's story gives hope to many a player who takes up the sport in Africa. His enthusiasm for the game as a 14-year-old was so great that he devoted most of his time to it and eventually dropped out of school early to sign for the US Rail team. It was there that he was noticed by German talent-spotters, and they recommended him for the Rhein-Main Basketball Academy. Once he was in Germany, it was only a matter of time before the youngster started to catch the eye of scouts. In 2003 Badiane joined the Frankfurt Skyliners and enjoyed his first Bundesliga title with the same team a year later. Badiane’s was drafted in 2002 by the Houstons Rockets which were very impressed by Badiane’s excellent defensive skills. Badiane is also the most experience player of his team on the international lever after competeting with the senior national team at the 2003 African Championship in Egypt. Senegal was defeated by Nigeria in the semi-finals and lost with it the right to participate to the Athens Olympic Games. If Senegal wins the up-coming championship they will represent Africa at the U21 FIBA World Championship in July 2005 in Argentina. The complete Senegalese roster is: Guards: Armand Massongo, Pape Saliou Diaw and Aliou Bodian Forwards: Mohamed Faye, Malick Gueye Faye, Alioune Ndiye, Massamba Gueye CENTER : Malick Badiane, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Moussa Mbaye, Cheikh, Souleymane Ndour, Mamadou Diene. Link
Awesome article, thanks for the read. I think Badiane is going to be a great piece in the coming years.
if he stays with Skyliners, he will play next year in strongest Euroleague group. will he get some PT, thats up to him.
if he doesn't dominate this tournament then he really is not nba ready, and then i doubt he will ever be. a under20 african tournament? if you want to play in the nba you should dominate such a tournament
The Rockets should really get on him about getting bigger and stronger. BTW, the guy that plays ahead of him, Kasun, was on the Magic summer league team. He didn't put up great stats, but their coaches were impressed by his toughness and are thinking about signing him to a very small deal to be the 3rd C on the team behind Cato and Declerq. So if that happens, it means more minutes and a starting spot for Badiane and his team will play in the actual Euroleague, which is MUCH MUCH tougher than what he was doing last year. The Rockets should really groom this guy to be our backup so we're not stuck paying someone tons of money this or next year. Just get on him about lifting weights this season, he's going to get his minutes and slightly tougher competition, he may become a capable 15-minute player behind Yao for a good 3 or 4 years until he demands more money.
I agree completely about signing him as our backup center and grooming. All we care about is defensive skills, and I'd just like to see him play, I think too much is made about letting them develop overseas. The only development they need is strengthening, which it seems they get better here and practice against the best, which they get by playing here.
This is old news, but it's what gives me hope Malick is a missing link. If he truly is an energy guy, and can hold on to the ball (Cato's major problem), maybe we have another Otis Thorpe type of player to complement Yao in the low post. Remember how well OT and Olajuwon played together. As many posters on this board have stated, we need to give him a chance to learn from JVG, Ewing and Yao.
If Badiane has any slashing ability at all and has handles, I'd love to see a combination of: PG: JJ or Gaines SG: McGrady SF: Howard or Nachbar PF: Badiane C: Yao
O3gs, where you at? any word on whether Badiane will be asked to attend training camp this year? man I hope so. It's going to be fun rooting for that kid to make the team.
Hello and sorry for the delayed response, O3Gs is very busy these days and unfortunately have not been checking the site as frequently as I would have liked. Malick left for Senegal just over a week ago, and is looking to win his 2nd championship in 2004. When I last spoke with him before he left, the game plan was to add the African Championship to his German Championship and then top it off with a NBA Championship in Houston. Somehow, I don't feel as though any of you will argue with said game plan. As far as training camp goes. Right now, Houston wants him there and is in the process of deciding whether or not to extend a contract offer to Malick. We are hoping for an answer by the time he returns to the states following the African Championships. The games are taking place in Malick's hometown of Dakar and obviously there is a lot of pride involved. I will keep you up-to-date as best I can throughout.
