The International Basketball Opinion

By ALAN WALLS Welcome to The International Basketball Opinion , the only blog specifically dedicated to international basketball news, business and current events. Four out of 12!  In the game of basketball four out of 12, or 33%, is a low shooting percentage. But in this case, it is EXTREMELY low. What I am referring to is the amount of female head coaches in the WNBA during the 2020 season! Four out of 12! In an article published December 11, 2020 in the The Atlantic by Hannah Withiam entitled “Women’s basketball has a coaching ‘crisis.’ What steps are needed for change?” Withiam states: Of the 12 head coaches in the WNBA in 2020, eight were men; of the four women, only one (Phoenix coach Sandy Brondello) was a former WNBA player. Vickie Johnson, another former player who was named Dallas Wings head coach Wednesday after Brian Agler’s departure, becomes the only Black female coach in a league made up of about 80 percent Black players. Summary: 4 female head coaches in 2020. Only 1 fo

By ALAN WALLS Welcome to The International Basketball Opinion , the only blog specifically dedicated to international basketball news, business and current events. Though many of my blog posts are critical of FIBA, I want it to be clear that I am not anti-FIBA. Quite the contrary. I am a fan of FIBA and its regional and global competitions and my hope is that in one small way or another my criticisms and suggestions may lead to changes and improvements. With that being said, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate FIBA and highlight some of the positive global initiatives they have undertaken to help grow the game in underdeveloped and underserved countries and regions. Last month FIBA announced the launch of their FIBA PLUS Strategy and Planning Program with the  National Basketball Feder ation of Trinidad and Tobago and last week the  Guam Basketball Confederation and the  National Basketball Federation of Cape Verde  serving as their first participating federations. 

UPDATE: Mali ended up pulling of its second upset, if you can call it that, in two days beating Senegal in the final 82-80 to win the 2020 FIBA U18 African Championship. Final Standings: 1. Mali (2-3 record), 2. Senegal (3-2), 3. Egypt (4-1), 4. Guinea (1-4). The team with the best record of 4-1 finishes third… go figure. On the women’s side basically the same thing happened, yet this time Egypt benefited, and Mali got screwed. Egypt turned back Mali 68-63 to win the U18 Africa crown despite entering the final with a 1-3 record and having lost to Mali twice in the pool play double round-robin. Mali finished group play a perfect 4-0, yet their one loss relegated them to second place. Final standings: 1. Egypt (2-3), 2. Mail (4-1), 3. Senegal (1-3). Mali finishes 4-1 and beats Egypt two out of three games, yet must settle for second place… what? What should they have done in the three-team women’s event? A double round-robin, as they did, or a triple round-robin with six games each and