What It Takes to Make the BAL Sweet 16: A Profile of AS Sale
AS Sale : Six clubs will qualify for the 2017 Basketball Africa League (BAL) season, and there are a couple that immediately spring to mind.
Association Sportive de Sale, a Moroccan squad, is predicted to do well in the Elite 16 Round next week.
FIBA basketball profiles the reigning Africa champions AS Sale as they prepare for the West Division Elite 16 Round of BAL (November 14-19 in Abidjan).
Lineup: The Association Sportive de Sale
The Rabat-based squad has participated in the previous two BAL tournaments, thus they have some experience in FIBA Africa/BAL competition. The first two editions of the BAL saw AS Sale, a team that often competes in FIBA Africa tournaments, get to the semifinals. After losing in the championship game of the 2019 FIBA Africa Basketball League (ABL) in Luanda, Angola against Primeiro de Agosto, the Moroccan champions ended in second place.
Winners of the 2017 FIBA Africa Champions Cup. BEST RESULT IN FIBA Africa/BAL. Made it to the BAL quarterfinals (2021 and 2022).
HOW THEY GOT IN: AS Sale got in to the Elite 16 Round automatically since they played in the past BAL season.
STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES: AS Sale, fresh off their victory over FUS in the Moroccan domestic league, will travel to Abidjan to compete in Group A of the West Division Elite 16 against the host Abidjan Basket Club, Elan Coton of Benin, and Bangui Sporting Club of the Central African Republic.
The veteran player roster is AS Sale’s greatest strength. More than half of the team that made the BAL playoffs last year has returned, including starters Amadou Haruna, Soufiane Kourodou, Chems Eddine Allal, Zakaria El Masbahi, Chaoui Kouraichi, and Badreddine Azouga. I wonder whether its bench can be more effective than it was in the BAL back in May.
As a result of losing deadly scorer Terrell Stoglin, Amadou Haruna has stepped up as AS Sale’s top option.
Haruna is a versatile guard with a height of 1.95m (6ft 4in). The Nigerien who has appeared in the first two BAL seasons (FAP/AS Sale) might be the deciding factor in Abidjan for AS Sale. He can score from practically everywhere on the field and is also a capable playmaker.
Said El Bouzidi, the team’s head coach, is an accomplished strategist who has gained acclaim across Africa and the Arab world. El Bouzidi returned to the leadership of AS Sale in time to lead the club to its most recent Moroccan League championship after serving as coach of the Moroccan national team on many occasions.
El Bouzidi, a highly regarded coach, guided AS Sale to the BAL quarterfinals in the competition’s first season. He coached US Monastir of Tunisia after leading AS Sale to victory in the 2017 FIBA Africa Champions Cup.
AS Sale
OUTLOOK: Back in May 2022, in the Quarter-Finals of the BAL in Kigali, AS Sale squared battle against a club that wasn’t from Morocco for the first time since the beginning of the season. That squad was Petro de Luanda. It seems like things are going to be more difficult now.
Bangui Sporting Club of Abidjan will need more than just their outstanding history to beat a team like ABC. They have to take each game seriously and not look past any of their opponents in the Elite 16 since they have all played well to get this far.
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