Banija Men's National Basketball TeamAs presented by the Olympic Committee of BanijaInformationCountry code: BNJ
Denonym: Banijan
Nickname: The Lions
Head Coach: Isaiah Lavaga
Assistant Head Coach: Oscar Laboto
Captain: Amadou Secka
Jerseys designed gratefully by Filindostan!
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RP PermissionsMy opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my Scorers: Yes
Choose Scoring Events: Yes
Godmod Scoring Events: Yes
RP Injuries to my Players: Yes(please specify the number of games that they will miss).
Godmod Injuries to my Players: Yes(please specify the amount of time that they will miss).
However, Banijan players or fans will not be allowed to catch any pandemic for any reason.
Godmod Other Events: No
Starting LineupPG #3 Ibezimako Akabueze. 6'1. 25 years old. Has played in two IBCs and the Olypmiad. Led University of Moravica to appearance in NSCAA 10 Championship Game. Known for quick transition plays. Plays for the Outreomt Étoiles in the Donnacona Basketball Association. First time as a starter.
SG #5 Saihou Uster. 6'4. 32 years old. Runs around like crazy, relentless motor. Team's best perimeter defender, team's best spot up shooter. Is a poor isolation player and struggles to create his own shot.
Captain.SF #14 Ezekiel Bullo. 6'7, 23 years old. Strong small forward capable of getting to the rim almost at will. He's a crazy good athlete, but he has to work on developing his jump shot. Strong perimeter defender.
PF #4 Labanzi Nabongo. 6'7. 30 years old. Has appeared in 3 IBCs and the Olympiad. Starred for the Manchester Tigers in the Donnaconna Basketball Association, finishing First-Team All-League, averaging a stunning 35 points per night. Can do it all offensively. Taking over as the team's primary scorer.
C #10 Sadio Bartaba. 6'11. 28 years old. Has appeared in 3 IBCs and the Olympiad. The team's best rebounder and most physical player- the emotional heart of this team.
BenchC #13 Azmera Gulema. 7'1. 23 years old. Rookie in Banija's professional basketball league. Big rebounder, physical rim protector.
PG/SG #12 Janko Jawo. 6'5. 31 years old. Highly energetic, quality perimeter defender. An offensive liability.
PF/C #9 Antouman Ceesay. 6'11. 22 years old. Star player for Kizza I College in NSCAA 11.
SG #7 Ebrahima Faye. 6'5. 20 years old. Banija's highest rated basketball recruit coming out of high school. Star player for University of Moravica in NSCAA 11.
SF #23 Kizza Alonso. 6'8. 21 years old.
C #29. Oluwasegun Tionge. 7'4, 20 years old. Switched allegiances from Northwest Kalactin to Banija at IBC XXIX.
The Closeout lineup is the same as the starting lineup.
Notes: - We almost always play a 1-3-1 zone defense. It works well with this team, which has lots of size, and is getting faster, especially at guard.
- This team is built very different from past teams. They space the floor much better, they have spread the floor with a lot of players who can hit jumpers, especially three pointers. They also like to play fast.
- This team will run at almost any chance they get. While rebounding, especially on defense, is the team's weakest link, when they do get a rebound, they are able to push the ball, and so quickly.
- For the group stages, this team's rotation runs 10-12 deep, as they will almost certainly shorten the rotation to 8 players come the knockout stages. But for now, he wants to get everybody playing time, and give the starters rest for the later stages of this tournament.
Recent HistoryThe recent history of the national basketball team, or the Lions, has to start with Banija’s return to the international fray in the 24th IBCs- when they first made a name for themselves on the international stage. With Alonzo Busk hired as the head coach, and their play centered around their star front court players, the pair of 7’2 foot twin brothers, this was a team that won with a front court based game. The two were quality free throw shooters for their size, of course, and they stunned everyone in the IBCs by even getting out of their group, finishing with a 7-3 record in IBC 24 after starting 0-2.
They then made a deep run into the tournament, until they ran into the buzzsaw of St.Kanye- who beat them in the semifinals en route to their third IBC championship in a row. Running into one of the sport’s all-time great teams, things seemed to be looking up for the Lions. And then, came IBC 25- the first time they truly faced disappointment. On home soil, in a tournament co-hosted with Filindostan, they went 10-0 In the group stages, emerging as a favorite to cut down the nets in Filindostan. However, for them, they ran into Drawkland, who stunned Banijan fans by pasting the Lions by 20 on their home floor, en route to winning the tournament themselves.
After that, the team got their first major trophy- winning the Gold medal at the Commonwealth Games for the men. That gave them hope flying into IBC 26, and they did well in that tournament, winning their group for the second straight tournament, this time from Pot 2, and getting into the knockouts. They ran into the defending champs, Drawkland, in the quarterfinals, and that was the end of the run for the Lions.
Three IBCs, three knockout stage appearances, three knockout victories- not a bad run for Alonzo Busk. But it was all a disaster at the Olympics. They went 3-3 in the group stages at the Republica Olympiad, the Savaneh twins swan song with the Lions. And that was it for that iteration of the squad. The Savaneh twins retired, and Alonzo Busk, the head coach, resigned after the Olympiad, saying that it was time for a new era of Banijan basketball to commence.
And IBC 27 was the beginning of the new era. With a new head coach in Isaiah Lavaga, they run a different kind of offense entirely- the team running through a pair of quick, quality guards. They shoot a ton of 3s, and try to stretch the floor- almost the opposite of teams past. And with their #4 ranking in the IBC standings, the expectations for this team are extremely high- with even Lavaga himself saying that anything less than a quarterfinal appearance, with the talent on this team, would be ‘a failure’. This team, though almost getting eliminated in the Round of 16, won four in a row over Valanora and the Royal Kingdom of Quebec(respectively), to run into the Vannish buzzsaw in the semifinals.
The IBC 27 Semifinals, going into which Banija had so much hope, was humbling. Vangaziland is clearly a cut above the rest of the multiverse in terms of basketball skill, and they will be the measuring stick, as the Lions hope to do what the national soccer team did to Vilita- prevent them from winning a third consecutive championship. IBC 28 was another strong start for the Banijans in what was a surprisingly short tournament- just 3 group stage games. They won all their group stage games, and their Round of 16 game to boot, before being upset by the Free Republics in the Quarterfinals.
This most recent cycle was the most painful one yet. They finally broke through in the IBCs, finally winning a semifinal in their third try, against rivals Drawkland, only to fall in the final to the resurrected basketball powerhouse, Newmanistan. The pain was added onto the year after, at the XIV Summer Olympiad, taking place in Banija's largest city, Istria. This men's team navigated the group stages and had a strong showing all the way to the Gold medal game, where the sellout Banijan crowd witnessed another disappointment in the biggest moment for Banijan basketball, as they lost and walked away with an Olympic silver medal. They are looking for a strong showing in the Gold Coast as they yet to launch another effort to claim the mantle of best team in the world at IBC 30.
Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2020 7:26 pm
