17 July 2012
KENYA : Nzioka confident Ulinzi will bounce back
By BRIAN AYIEKO
Seven times Kenya Basketball champions Ulinzi Warriors will bounce back to their top form with time.This is according to their Head coach Eliud Nzioka who has expressed optimism that his team will use experience to reclaim their best form that helped them win the KBF championships in the past.
The team withdrew from the top league in 2007 but made a major comeback during the 2011 season after finishing top of the 2010 division one League on an impressive unbeaten record. But they later withdrew from the league last year during the play offs following a directive that saw them withdraw again from the league due to work related duties.
Since being reinstated in the league early this season, Ulinzi has so far lost its 2 premier league matches going down to Coast based side Kenya Ports Authority 67- 89 and student side UON Terrorists 50 – 52 but the coach thinks it’s just a bad start.
“As you know, we had been inactive and were only reinstated 3 weeks ago. Compiling a team on such short notice is not easy. Even as we speak we do not have all our players.” Nzioka said.
He also mentioned that compared to other teams that were training since the beginning of the year they have not had the advantage but he said they will recover with time,
“Most teams have had months of training compared to us but this shall not deter our course since we have laid out plans to help us settle in.”
Ulinzi also had a terrible outing in the just concluded Tom Munyama tournament played over the weekend losing all the 3 preliminary matches.
The coach is however optimistic that by the end of July the team will be a force to reckon with,
“Probably by the end of this month and the start of August we shall received all our players and by the strategies that I have put in place, the team will get back to its feet.”
The team withdrew from the top league in 2007 but made a major comeback during the 2011 season after finishing top of the 2010 division one League on an impressive unbeaten record. But they later withdrew from the league last year during the play offs following a directive that saw them withdraw again from the league due to work related duties.
Since being reinstated in the league early this season, Ulinzi has so far lost its 2 premier league matches going down to Coast based side Kenya Ports Authority 67- 89 and student side UON Terrorists 50 – 52 but the coach thinks it’s just a bad start.
“As you know, we had been inactive and were only reinstated 3 weeks ago. Compiling a team on such short notice is not easy. Even as we speak we do not have all our players.” Nzioka said.
He also mentioned that compared to other teams that were training since the beginning of the year they have not had the advantage but he said they will recover with time,
“Most teams have had months of training compared to us but this shall not deter our course since we have laid out plans to help us settle in.”
Ulinzi also had a terrible outing in the just concluded Tom Munyama tournament played over the weekend losing all the 3 preliminary matches.
The coach is however optimistic that by the end of July the team will be a force to reckon with,
“Probably by the end of this month and the start of August we shall received all our players and by the strategies that I have put in place, the team will get back to its feet.”
# posted by afrbk : 15:17
