Basketball in Africa

Chief Coach of First Bank Basketball Club of Lagos, Adewunmi Aderemi has expressed readiness ahead of next month's Nigeria Open Basketball championship for Women billed for Abuja .

Last year, First Bank came second at the 17th Inter-club Basketball Club Championship for women, having been defeated by Inter-clube of Angola by 81-55 points at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National stadium Lagos.
According to the veteran coach, this year's competitions will be taken with all seriousness especially the forthcoming basketball competition holding in February.
According to him: "The programme for this year's competition is out, but we are going to start training on Monday ahead of next month competition and we hope to do our best by winning the competition while the Women's League kicks-off by March.
"Already, we have put behind us our loss at the Fiba competition last year, and we are also determined to do our best , as we aim at winning the forthcoming competition in February .
Most especially, our target is to win the continental championship this year and also to do well in the Women's League. My girls will be using the league as one of the preparations towards the Championship," Aderemi said.

ERIC Malinga and Isaac Afidra have matched up in many battles over the years.
On Saturday night, the two men shared the highest individual honours in Ugandan basketball at the FUBA Awards Gala at Imperial Royale Hotel.
Malinga was named the 2011 men's regular season most valuable (MVP) while Afidra claimed MVP men's top division Finals.
Kyambogo Warriors Malinga edged out surprise nominee Steven Omony of the Miracle Eagles while Afidra pipped Power team-mate Ben Komakech, who could have easily claimed the award after top-scoring in the finals, which his team won 4-3.
KCC Leopards' Martha Soigi claimed the women's regular season MVP award ahead of UCU Canons Maureen Amoding, who also lost the Finals accolade to team-mate Purity Odhiambo.
There was similar recognition for players in the men's division two and division three categories as well as others for teams and individuals. KIU's Nimrod Kaboha was named coach of the year even if none of his the two sides did anything spectacular.
The Titans didn't make the men's top division playoffs while the Rangers made it to the women's postseason but Kaboha, no doubt one of the best coaches around, could not prevent his team from being swept by UCU. Power players and fans felt their coach Bernice Nkunda, who defended the men's championship for the first time in the club's history, should have taken this prize.
The coaches' award was not the only major controversy, though. Many were perplexed that there was no tribute John Simbwa, the late Falcons founder who arguably did as much for local basketball.
The event lacked a climax. For instance, the MVP honours come first rather than last.

By Mbonisi Mabhena

Highlanders (M) continued their trailblazing run in weekend basketball matches as they brushed aside Steelers to win 97-59 to stay at the top of the log standings. The in-form Michael Zvoushe was the match's top scorer as he bagged 19 points in a match played at Bulawayo Club for the Disabled (BCD) Courts. Lakers recorded a 20-0 win courtesy of a walkover victory over Hawks who failed to pitch up.
Unicorns (M) from the Midlands beat Oilers 99-52 with the Midlands side's duo of Tatenda Tswatswa and Blessing Chidimu being tied on 20 points as the highest scorers for the winners. Kings (M) triumphed over Stars 77-57 in a tightly contested match in which at some stage Kings' Garth Hussey played a starring role with 24 points. Highlanders (W) also recorded a massive win when they easily trounced Stars 95-9 with Bosso's Jackie Phenduka top scoring for the weekend with 29.
In the Giants (W) versus Steelers match, the Bulawayo girls won 45-31. 'The matches are tough as can be seen by the tight log standings at the moment and slip-ups are a luxury teams cannot afford, at the moment things are not too bright for us but we are still there in the league race and we did not lose too badly this weekend,' said ZB Titans team manager and Bulawayo Basketball Association spokesperson Charles Ndlovu after the Oilers-Unicorns match which was the last of the day on Saturday.

Results
Giants (M) 68, ZB Titans 53; ALCC (M) 20, Sixers 0; Kings (M) 77, Stars 57, Highlanders (M) 97, Steelers 52, Oilers (M) 52, Unicorns 99; Giants (W) 45, Steelers 31; Lakers (W) 20, Hawks 0; Highlanders (W) 95, Stars 9

Let’s have a look at what makes Senegal international Mouhammad Faye a unique player.

Standing 2.08m tall, he is the kind of forward that head coaches really dream of having in ambitious teams.
The 26-year-old is hardworking, humble, exceptionally versatile for a player his size, is a good three-point shooter and, above all, is seriously committed to the game.
Faye is well placed to become one of the greatest players in his country's basketball history.
And he does not refuse a challenge, whether with his so-often criticised Senegal Basketball Federation, or at club level, for whom he shows no sign of stopping.
Unsurprisingly, last summer, Alain Weisz - the former France coach at EuroBasket 2001 and 2003 and coach of Senegal at the AfroBasket 2011 - did not hesitate in offering him a contract to play for his French Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB) team, Hyeres-Toulon.
Faye said yes and is now living his first European professional experience in Mediterranean town of Toulon, where he wants more than to just be a leading scorer.
Hyeres-Toulon is struggling and Faye hopes for better days to come.
After a collegial career in the United States at the universities of Georgia Tech and Southern Methodist, followed by a stint in the NBA's D-League with Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Faye accepted Weisz’s offer and is now the second leading scorer of Hyeres-Toulon, averaging 14.6 points per game, just two points behind teammate Paccelis Morlende.
In his first year playing in Europe, the attention has also been on Faye’s future with Senegal. Will he turn his back to his national team?
No, he told me when I spoke to him a couple of days ago.
Actually he is pleased with his role in the national team: “It is great being the leader of my team as I have been able to help them out; I just want to carry on helping my country,” he said to fiba.com.

No trophies since 1997
As with Nigeria, Senegal is a country often regarded as having a large number of talented players, some of whom play in the main leagues around the world.
For various reasons, some tend to represent the country on only one or two occasions, disrupting the talented and blessed accolade.
There are exceptions, of course. In the last seven years, 36 players have represented Senegal in four AfroBasket editions and one FIBA World Championship. Faye has appeared in three tournaments since he first played for Senegal at AfroBasket 2007.
No players have been more regulars for Senegal than Maleye Ndoye and Malick Badiane, the leading rebounder at last year's AfroBasket with 11 rebounds per game.
Both players have represented the country in four AfroBasket (2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011) and the FIBA World Championship 2006.
In the last four AfroBasket editions, Senegal finished runner-up (2005), ninth (2007), seventh (2009) and fifth last year.
As host nation, Senegal won the continent's most desired basketball trophy on three occasions (1972, 1978 and 1997) and, twice as visitors to Morocco (1968 and 1980).
Historically, Egypt and Senegal are the second most titled African countries with five apiece, after 10-time winners Angola.
I asked Faye why Senegal is not winning titles.
“Because we have not been able to put all our best players together; some of our players just give up on the national team,” he replied.
Over the last five years, Faye has become highly influential for Senegal. He went from averaging 12 points per contest for the national team to becoming the top scorer at AfroBasket 2011 with 21.7 points per game.
Two years ago in Libya, he averaged 17 points per game, just two less than Senegal top-scorer Boniface Ndong, who played two games less.
With or without management issues, Faye just wants to see his country being successful.
“If we have in the squad players like Boniface [Ndong], things could have been different,” he said.
Senegal went to Madagascar with a well renewed team featuring eight players who had never played at an AfroBasket.
On Day 2 of the tournament, they did the unexpected by defeating reigning champions Angola 85-78.
Everything seemed to be on the right track for the Senegalese until they collapsed in the Quarter-Finals following a 75-59 defeat against the Ivory Coast that ended their chances of fighting for a place at the London Olympics.

What happened?
“I don’t know, maybe because of that win [against Angola] we were just so happy to get focus,” Faye said.
Learning the European game
At the time of writing this column, Toulon were bottom of LNB table with just two wins in 14 games.
Still, Faye thinks it is a question of time.
He described to me his European experience: “it is tough to play in Europe; I am still learning how to play here.
“You have got to be smart."
With Nigeria and Angola hoping to make it to London through the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Venezuela, Faye recognises it will not be an easy task.
“It is a different level of game. Perhaps Angola can do something as they are used to play these kind of tournaments, but I think it will be tough for both teams,” he offered.
Expecting to lift the African title one day, Faye paid tribute to the new champions: “Tunisia played really well and deserved it.”
Julio Chitunda

Chez les dames 3 équipes ont participé: APR, Université nationale du Rwanda et du PJB Elite (RD Congo).

By Brown Msyani, The Citizen Correspondent
Dar es Salaam. ABC did what they failed to do in last season’s RBA League final– beating their arch nemesis, Vijana.
The army team recorded a sweet revenge over the reigning champions when they won a tense game 68-52 at the National Indoor Stadium on Saturday.
Emotions were expected to flare with the memory of last seasons final between these two giants in Tanzanian basketball.
They were Vijana who had everything to prove and also state their title intentions for this season and this showed throughout the game, only that luck was not on their side.
Vijana, affectionately known as City Bulls by their fans, took the first quarter 15-10, leaving ABC with a lot to think about.
ABC returned to the second quarter a stronger side and outscored the City Bulls 14-10, and by half time the scoreboard was reading 25-24 still in favour of Vijana.
Vijana will curse themselves having lost 15 penalty balls in the first two quarters, which gave ABC a lifeline.
After the recess, ABC picked from where they left off stretching Vijana to score quick points, but the latter swooped at the end of the third quarter with the scoreboard reading 15-15.
ABC came back through the inspiration of Adam Jegame and Juma Kisocky outscoring the City Bulls 19-12 in the fourth quarter.
Speaking after the match, ABC coach Leonard Kwale showered praise on his players for holding off hard-fighting Vijana.
“It is a fantastic result for us," said Kwale. " The win may have been slightly fortunate in the end, but by no means undeserved.
"At the beginning Vijana were the better team. It was clear to see that the opponents' self-confidence was high having gone into the game on the back of two wins.
"Eventually, we worked our way back into the game and we gave more than our opponents."
Meanwhile Vijana coach Bahati Mgunda conceded the defeat saying ABC executed their chances well while his lads fluffed a host of them.
“We deserved to win this match, but my players wasted many scoring chances unlike their opponents,” Mgunda said.

By Brown Msyani

The Citizen Correspondent
Dar es Salaam. A partisan crowd is expected at the National Indoor Stadium today when basketball giants Vijana and ABC lock horns in the RBA League match.Matches involving the two teams usually attract tens of basketball fans, mainly the youth, and today’s showdown is expected to follow that tradition. Both teams were yesterday busy, perfecting their tactics for what promises to be an exciting match.
The two teams last met in the RBA League last year at the same venue where Vijana, better known in the basketball circles as City Bulls, hit their rivals 65-58.
But Vijana should not expect an easy ride today because ABC have been very impressive this year.
Filbert Mwaipungu, one of the country’s best basketball players at the moment, is among the players Vijana must mark tightly if they want to grab the two points at stake in today’s encounter.
The other key players for ABC are Gilbert Batungi, Adamu Jegame and Juma Kisocky while Vijana will likely bank on Jacob Malenga, Mohamed Dibo and Mohamed Heri to score points.ABC will be fighting for their first victory in the league, while Vijana, who beat Pazi 61-56 in their opening match, will be seeking their second win.
Vijana coach Bahati Mgunda predicted a tough match yesterday, but remained optimistic that it would produce positive results for his team.
“ABC are a hard nut to crack when at their best as those who have seen them in action can attest,” said Mgunda.
“But our fans should expect positive results, we’re well prepared for the match,” he added.
His ABC counterpart, Leonard Kwale said his team would not afford another defeat to Vijana today.“They should expect the worst this time around. We’ll be all out for a win,” Kwale said confidently.

The Namibian Basketball Federation (NBF) and their German counterparts signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Windhoek on Monday.

This agreement is meant to formalize and extend the already existing cooperation between the two national federations and Namibia wants to continue and intensify their partnership.
Long-serving Director of Sport, Dr Vetumbuavi Veii, welcomed the strengthening of the bond between the DBB and NBF through the MoU, in addition to a bilateral agreement between the Namibian and German governments, that led to German basketball expert Frank Albin sbeing econded to Namibia since October 2009, focusing on mini basketball development.
André Scholz, Chargé d'Affaires of the German Embassy in Namibia, was pleased to see the official bilateral cooperation being extended to national federations. He further confirmed that the German Federal Foreign Office, via the German Olympic Sports
Federation (DOSB), has decided to extend the duration of the long-term project with Albin for a further two years.
The secondment of Albin as a long-term basketball expert is done within the framework of its global sports promotion programme, which supports the development of sports by, among others, dispatching sport experts, donating sport equipment and offering training courses for coaches at various sport schools and universities in Germany.
The DBB delegation is headed by Spaegele, accompanied by Regina and Gerhard Haegele, supporters and private sponsors of the Basketball Artists School (BAS) in Katutura.
During a visit to the township the German delegation met their godchildren Reuney and Helena and Basketball Artists where they handed over donations.
The Haegele couple was very touched by the performance and commitment of the Basketball Artists.
As a result of the progress and achievements made so far, 50 pairs of brand-new basketball shoes were handed over in the name of DBB President Ingo Weiss to BAS, by Joachim Spaegele.
Since February 2010, the children play every day on an outdoor court and thus the shoe wear is essential and hence very crucial for the development of the skills of the kids.

By Majuto Omary

The Citizen Reporter
Dar es Salaam. Alphaeus Kisusi of Vijana will be smiling all the way to Canada after winning a glorious chance to play and study at the Newfound Memorial University.The City Bulls forward departed for Toronto yesterday having secured a three-year scholarship after passing a special basketball test.
The clinic was organised by Mambo Basketball and Tanzania Student Achievement Organisation, and conducted by a prominent trainer, Peter Benoite, from the Newfound Memorial University. Kisusi, who has cemented his national team place, eclipsed other competitors during the exercise, which also required one to possess excellent academic results. Mambo head coach Bahati Mgunda expressed his delight for Kisusi’s success and wished him to scale more heights in the energy-draining sport.
“He is such a brilliant and hard working guy. I believe he will fight his way to the most valuable league in the world, NBA. “Tanzania has a lot of gifted players who I think will follow in the footsteps of Kisusi,” he said.
The up-and-coming player won the 2011 Most Valuable Player (MVP) award after shining at the National Basketball League.Kisusi was also among the players who attended a series of clinics conducted by Hasheem Thabeet (Houston Rockets player) and Steve Smith (retired NBA star)
Besides, he was among the three boys who went to the US for further training as part of the Tanzania Basketball Federation and Coca-Cola- Sprite clinics. According to Mgunda, the programme will continue this year and more youngsters will get opportunities to study and play in Canada. “
Kisusi is a good example of how basketball can change our youth’s lives, so I call upon all parents and teachers to keep on encouraging them,” he said.Speaking before flying to Canada, Kisusi expressed his gratitude to Mambo Basketball and Newfound Memorial University for making his dream come true.

Buru Buru girls kick start the defense of the Nairobi secondary schools sports association(NSSA) girl’s basketball championshipon 25th January against Riara springs. Buru Buru the 2011 champions have been drawn in Pool A alongside Kayole, Ngara, State House Girls, LCVR and St’Georges.

This year’s league has been divided into three pools of seven teams each an indication that the players will have more games thereby an increase in competition. New entrants St Mary’s are in Pool B alongside Langata, Kianda, Moi Nairobi, Kenya High and St Austins.
There are no rule changes for the tournament and the preliminary games at the pool stage shall be played in four quarters of 12 minutes running time with the clock being stopped during free throws.
The first leg ends on February 10 and the second starts on February 15. The top two teams in each pool will automatically qualify for the quarter finals with the best third-placed teams also proceeding to the knock-out stage.

The first matches will be played on Wednesday January 25th.
POOL A :Buruburu, Kayole , Ngara, State House , L.C.V.R. ,St. Georges, Riara Springs
POOL B :Langata, Pangani, Kianda, Moi Nairobi,Kenya High, St.Mary’s, St Austins.
POOL C :Arya Parklands ,P.B., St.Elizabeth, Malezi, Makini, Mt.Laverna, Hospital Hill