His sophomore campaign, defense, Belgium… Meeting Toumani Camara • Basket USA

“He’s a player that I love watching because you always have the impression that he’s having fun and having fun on the pitch. “. A little over a year ago, Scoot Henderson and the Blazers discovered Toumani Camara. Drafted in 52nd position by the Suns in 2023 before being transferred to the Blazers, the 2m01 Belgian winger seems to enjoy the same popularity in Oregon, a year later…

Ray of sunshine in the grayness of Portland during the last campaign (7.5 points on 45% shooting, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 25 minutes of play), Toumani Camara “really reached a milestone this summer”assures Chauncey Billups. He continues to do what he did last year but with more volume. Which earned him a new status as an indisputable starter with the Blazers, currently 13th in the West (9 wins – 20 losses).

“I feel more assertive and more confident compared to last year but anyway, I will mature each season. My opponents, too, respect me more on the pitch”he explains to Basket USA in the Blazers locker room during their visit to San Antonio, just before Christmas. Hall of Fame member and Pistons legend Isiah Thomas (63) even congratulated him when the Blazers played in Phoenix last month.

Short-term “All-Defensive Team” objective

Still room for improvement offensively, the former Georgia and Dayton player has earned his place defensively with the Blazers. “He is becoming a very good defender, much more intelligent [que l’an dernier] and more versatile »underlines his coach, who uses him a lot on the best opposing attacker, while he said a few weeks ago that having him in his team “was every coach’s dream”.

Sitting in the lower aisles of the Frost Bank Center, Jason Grismer, in his forties and with a salt-and-pepper beard, confirms Isiah Thomas' vision. “With Rayan Rupert, he is one of the players I have complete confidence in for the reconstruction of the franchise”explains this Blazers fan and resident of San Antonio since this summer, with Toumani Camara's No. 33 on his shoulders.

For his part, Toumani Camara would like to appear in the “All-Defensive Team” in the short term and believes that he is already part of “of the twenty best defenders in the NBA”. “I take a lot of interest in it but it’s difficult to really focus on it because it’s an individual reward, which I can’t control”he adds, while a handful of his teammates try to invite themselves into the discussion…

Listed at 104 kilograms after an offseason where he gained “between 4 and 5 kg of muscle”Toumani Camara knows that he can still be improved offensively. He recalls that he has never been a bad shooter and indicates that it is a question of regularity, repetition and self-confidence. “Scoring more points is not my primary objective”he notes. “Above all, I want to help my team win and I think I have found other ways to impact matches, whether on rebounds, passing, or defense. »

Joined in the Great League by his compatriot Ajay Mitchell at the Thunder, the native of Brussels, of Haitian and Malian origins, took up the torch from Didier Mbenga, first and last Belgian to have played in the NBA (2004-2011) before the arrival of this new generation.

“But the interest in basketball is not sufficient in Belgium”breathes Toumani Camara. “Mentalities need to change because today, basketball is not really a Belgian sport”.

Towards a first international competition with Belgium?

This is more the case on the women's side: the “Belgian Cats” were European champions for the first time in 2023 and semi-finalists at the Paris Olympic Games last summer, ultimately failing at the foot of the podium. Belgium, co-organizer of the European Women's Championships in 2027, can therefore count on Emma Meesseman to brilliantly represent it internationally, and particularly in the WNBA.

As the next men's European Championship looms (from August 27 to September 14, 2025 in Latvia, Cyprus, Finland and Poland) for which Belgium must still qualify during the last February window, Toumani Camara would like experience his first international competition with the A this summer.

“I think about it often but it will depend on how my end of the NBA season goes”slips the one who counts as his only experience in selection a participation in the EuroBasket U16 in division B, in 2016/17.

At the beginning of July, his agent David Putterie had singled out the Belgian Federation for the management of his client's file in the columns of BeBasket Belgium, regretting that “all the conditions were not met” to see him play with the Lions, and questioning the work of Jacques Stas, the manager of the Belgian selection.

From our correspondent in San Antonio (United States).

How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.