Basketball in Africa

The FUBA basketball regular season has not been short of amazing. With surprises and counter surprises , we can only say that the best is only yet to come now that we know who is in the playoffs. Last week saw a change in the standings when Falcon lost to KIU, 67:63 meaning Warriors will now have to face off with UCU while Falcon will meet Dmark Power in the best of 5 semi final playoff series. The playoffs are scheduled to start on the 29th of October in a venue that will be communicated in the press conference to be held on the 21st of October.

Falcon find themselves in unwanted zone with chaos in the camp due to unpaid wages of several international players like Mike Bazangu and Bienvenue Ngandu. Consequently, these players have not presented themselves for the past two games including the loss to KIU. There are allegations that Mike Bazangu has left the country though Ngandu who declined to comment on the situation is still in Ugandan. The Falcon management is showing the same traits that allegedly led to the departure of Stephen Omony early this year.

To recap on the season, Warriors entry into the playoffs was severely tested by the return of Steven Omony this time wearing a jersey for the Rubaga based Miracle Eagles. Warriors managed to pull off a must win game against the eagles.

Power’s season for lack of a better word has been simply amazing. With a record 20 wins and 2 losses. The first being an unseen loss against UCU and the second to a desperate Warriors at the time. You can notice that the Warriors know how to win in their desperate situations.

We remain to see if Falcon will conquer their demons and have all the players back as a unit ahead of their encounter with Power. As for Power, their unity is evident and they look to be even more united for the cause of winning the championship this year even more than they did the previous year when they lost the title to the Warriors.

Considering their form last season, UCU to many represent this seasons surprise package. For a team that narrowly escaped relegation due to a National Council of Sports decree that saw no team relegated last season, to make it to the playoffs beating at least once all their competitors in the playoffs is just a huge achievement. But many skeptics saw this coming at the UCU invitational tournament held before the league when the team that went unbeaten during the regular season under Jason Mehl was seen to have reunited. Ivan Enabu who was keen to stay after half moving to Falcon citing “unfinished business” was joined by brother Jimmy Enabu from Knight Rioders. UCU were also boosted by the return of Jeff Omondi joining his brother Robert Mugabe. We wait to see if the “unfinished business” Ivan cited at the beginning of the season was actually to win the championship.