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: Sadio Bartaba
Rank: #1
Notable FinishesChampions of IBC 30
Champions of IBC 31
Champions of AOBC VI
Runners-Up at IBC 29
Silver medal at the XIV Summer Olympiad in men's basketball
Third Place at IBC 24
Fourth Place at IBC 27
Records(W-L, Win %):All-Time AO Basketball Championships Record: 10-2, 83.33%
All-Time Olympic Record: 10-5, 50.00%, 66.67%
All-Time IBC Group Stage Record: 84-22, 79.25%
All-Time IBC Knockout Stage Record: 20-9, 68.97%
All-Time IBC Record: 104-31, 77.04%
All-Time Record(All competitions): 124-38, 76.54%
Jerseys designed gratefully by Filindostan!
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Players in their first IBC are
italicized.Starting LineupPG #3 Ibezimako Akabueze. 6'1. 31 years old. This is his fourth IBC. 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. Third time as a starter.
SG #7 Ebrahima Faye. 6'5. 26 years old. Banija's highest rated basketball recruit coming out of high school. Star player for University of Moravica in NSCAA 11, helped lead them to the NSCAA 11 Championship Game. Second tournament as a starter. Great three point shooter and perimeter defender. Also a good midrange shooter, but struggles to get to the rim. Plays for the Raynor City Monarchs in Valanora.
SF #14 Ezekiel Bullo. 6'7, 29 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. Considered the team's star player. Plays for the Valanari Highlanders in Valanora.
PF #23 Kizza Alonso. 6'8. 27 years old. Plays for the Capri Firebirds in Valanora. Elite defender, doesn't do much on the dribble, but has a solid jump shot.
C #9 Antouman Ceesay. 6'11. 28 years old. Star player for Kizza I College in NSCAA 11. First tournament as a starter. Elite post player, although he cannot shoot 3s and stretch the floor offensively. Plays for the Cloudsdale Warriors in Equestria.
BenchPG #13 Odion Ozoemena. 6'3. 25 years old. Plays fast and with lots of energy. Plays for the Seaddle Subsonics in Equestria.
PG/SG #12
Tigrian Tesheme. 6'4. Highly energetic, quality perimeter defender. An offensive liability.
C/PF #10 Sadio Bartaba. 6'11. 35 years old. Has appeared in 4 IBCs and the Olympiad. The team's best rebounder and most physical player- the emotional heart of this team. Too old to start, but will still contribute hard, high-quality minutes.
SG #5
Israel Arefani. 6'5. 22 years old. Your classic spot up shooting 3 and D type of player.
SF/PF #4
Zufan Hawani. 6'8. 29 years old.
C # Oluwasegun Tionge. 7'4, 26 years old. Switched allegiances from Northwest Kalactin to Banija at IBC XXIX.
SF/PF #0 Koman Shomari. 6'7. 24 years old. Plays for the Rinaldi Golden Hurricane in Valanora.
Closeout LineupPG #3 Ibezimako Akabueze
SG #7 Ebrahima Faye
SF #14 Ezekiel Bullo
PF #23 Kizza Alanso
C #10 Sadio Bartaba
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. Situationally, we will switch to man to man or a box and 1 if the other team's star player is hot, but the 1-3-1 is the base.
- 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 12 deep, as Lavaga will do his best to get all 12 players into the game for every single group stage game. However, they will almost certainly shorten the rotation to 8-9 players come the knockout stages. The rotation shrinks in the knockout stages, and in knockout games and other must wins, Lavaga is willing to play his star players(Akabueze, Faye, and Bullo) all extremely heavy minutes (35+).
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.
All that pain ended up being worth it, however, in Graentjfall for IBC 30. The Banijan national team went a perfect 14-0, crushing nearly all comers as they refused to be denied one last time. They had blowout win after blowout win during the group stages, going a perfect 10-0 in group play with their closest game being a 13 point victory over the hosts. After a 30 point blowout win in the Round of 16, this team had a slugfest against Kriegiersien, winning a legendary basketball game by just one point, 128-127, after four overtimes. It was a stunner of a match. Two Banijan starters fouled out in that fourth overtime, but we survived, as a buzzer beating floater by Kriegiersien at the end of the final overtime period was swatted away by the Banijan/Kalactanian dual-national Oluwasegun Tionge, who decided to play for Banija. After a blowout victory over rivals Quebec in the semifinals, they reached the IBC final for the second straight tournament, to play the team that beat them on the final play of the IBC 29 FInal, Newmanistan.
This time,
it would be the Lions that would triumph. It took two overtime periods, but the Banijans eventually pulled away and won, 91-85, to win our first ever IBC title. And that launched the momentum into the next cycle, our best cycle ever. We went undefeated at the AOBC VI, blowing out the competition in Equestria to go a perfect 6-0 for our first ever regional title, and then following that up by going 17-0 at IBC 31 en route to our
second consecutive world title. The highlight of IBC 31 was the semifinal win over Newmanistan, whom we had played in the previous two finals, before defeating host nation Delaclava by 18 in the Final.
Now, we go for a historic threepeat that has only been done once in the history of this tournament, to try and cement the legacy of this era of Banija Lions teams as the greatest of all time. Can we make it happen?
Group Stage- Group 3 ScheduleMatchday 1: Banija @ Nova Anglicana(13)
Matchday 2: BYE
Matchday 3: Banija v. Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom(28). Venue: Afolayan Central Arena in Busembe, Kitara
Matchday 4: Banija @ Venmere(UR)
Matchday 5: Banija v. Gatchingerrak Union(UR). Venue: Joseph Wilson Arena in Hoima, Ankole.
Matchday 6: Banija @ Pratapgadh(UR)
Matchday 7: Banija v. Southwest Eastnorth(32). Venue: Air Banija Arena in Jinja City, Hangaza
Matchday 8: Banija @ Lisander(10)
Matchday 9: Banija v. Mytanija(39). Venue: Kabaka's Court in Busukuma, National Capitol Region.
Matchday 10: Banija v. Nova Anglicana(13). Venue: Caribou Arena in Istria, Moravica.
Matchday 11: BYE
Matchday 12: Banija @ Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom(28)
Matchday 13: Banija v. Venmere(UR). Venue: Aissa Fieldhouse in Aissa, Hangaza
Matchday 14: Banija @ Gatchingerrak Union(UR)
Matchday 15: Banija v. Pratapgadh(UR). Venue: North Park Arena in Herzegovina City, Moravica
Matchday 16: Banija @ Southwest Eastnorth(32)
Matchday 17: Banija v. Lisander(10). Venue: Caribou Arena in Istria, Moravica.
Matchday 18: Banija @ Mytanija(39)