"Africa needs to make sure that we don't only export talent, but we should also build valid value around our talent," said the Senegalese, who managed NBA side, the Dallas Mavericks, for eight years. "It's just a question of bringing the expertise and creating the environment."
"US basketball players have always been in demand everywhere around the world. We want high-quality players to want to come and play in our leagues," he explained. "Players wouldn't have considered Africa in the past because of economic and other factors. I think it's a great sign that they actually want to come and play."
"Teams in general are working hard to get organized. To position themselves to have a chance to win their local championship and qualify for the BAL," Fall said. "We believe in basketball in Africa."
"We're feeling very confident, knowing that we've been at this level before, and we're really excited to be playing in the first game of the tournament," the Fighters' coach, Liz Mills, who has been involved in men's basketball in Africa for more than 10 years, told the media. "Over the past two decades we have competed in the Africa Champions Cup, which was a competition before the NBA and FIBA merged into the Basketball African League, as well as imports that bring a vast wealth of experience."
"We're much improved since then. We've had tons of friendly games to prove that, with Petro de Luanda, with the NBA Academy, other teams from Mozambique," said the Tigers' head coach Raphael Edwards. "We're getting closer to playing a great brand of basketball."