ABIDJAN (AfroBasket) - Cote d'Ivoire know exactly what Souleyman Diabate is going to provide for them when they compete at the AfroBaskets staged every two years.

The 1.82m Cocody-born point guard will score both inside and from the perimeter, and he'll set up his teammates.

He is 'Mr Consistency' because game in and game out, his coaches know that he will bring a solid effort no matter what.

At AfroBasket 2013, Diabate always did things to give his team chances to win games.

Though he struggled to score against eventual champions Angola in the Semi-Finals, Diabate came up with a game-high four steals.

He also had an assist for an alley-oop dunk by Stephane Konate that nearly brought the house down.

Cote d'Ivoire narrowly lost that game, 66-59.

Then in the third-place game against Senegal, Diabate had four steals and four assists to go with his five points but the Senegalese scraped a 57-56 win.

Diabate averaged 8.9 points, 4.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game.

That last statistic was the second best average in the entire competition.

There was to be no joy for the player, though.

"To not win the AfroBasket would be a failure for both the players and the management," he had said before the event.

So making the all-tournament team as the best point guard in the competition was scant consolation.

He had wanted to not only win the title but compete at the World Cup for a second straight time.

Diabate is right now trying to help Gravelines Dunkerque reach the French play-offs.

The side led by veteran coach Christian Monschau faces a real end-of-season dogfight to make it.

Dijon, Chalons-Reims and Gravelines each have 13 wins and 12 defeats and occupy the 8th, 9th and 10th places in the French league.

Le Mans and Chalon-sur-Saone are just one game behind.

Nine rounds remain.

After the season, Diabate will no doubt expect a call from Cote d'Ivoire.

The Elephants have qualified for the AfroBasket in Tunisia.

FIBA