Basketball in Africa

Warriors’ collated results
Primero 110-64 Warriors
Aspac 97-56 Warriors
Warriors 70-71 Co-op Bank
Inter Club 95-54 Warriors

Reading Kyambogo Warriors’ report card from the on-going Africa Club Basketball Championships in Kigali, Rwanda paints a worrying picture about the state of the game locally.

Warriors’ trip to Rwanda was one filled with lots despair as Ugandan champions lost all four games game to bow out of the prestigious tournament which attracted the best teams from across the African continent.
“The gap between us and the teams we faced is still huge so we have to invest more in coaches, referees and facilities,” Warriors’ patron Ambrose Tashobya told Sunday Monitor upon his return from Kigali on Friday.

Using the FIBA Zone V Africa Club event held in Kampala in July where Warriors reached the final, losing to Kenya’s Co-operative Bank, as a basis, Tashobya, also the local basketball head, praised the level of opposition his side encountered.
“There are champions all over the place so every game is hard. You have to multiply the levels of competition in the Zone V by two to get to kind of contests we got.
“Some teams like (champions) Angola’s Primero D’Agosito are run professionally. Players are well conditioned, have good physique and their shooting percentage is obscene. They can score 30 three-pointers,” Tashobya explained.
Nonetheless, he remained adamant that local basketball was in the right direction.
“There are two professionals already in Martin (Okwanko) and (Abdullahi) Ramadhani so we are on the right path,” Tashobya noted. Adding; “I cannot crucify players they achieved the club’s targets for the year in winning the league and qualification for a continental event. We have now tested how deep the waters are.”
With the tournament ending on December 22, Warriors, a wild card entrant, will stay in Kigali watching the final stages of the event.