Basketball in Africa

Unbeaten in four months, record champions Blue Cube Falcons take on second-placed Kyambogo Warriors in what could be the dress rehearsal for the playoff finals, writes Felix Eupal.Only two losses in nineteen outings and a 13-game winning streak, Falcons are on a roll. Interestingly, Warriors was the last team to defeat the table leaders back in April. Since then, Falcons have looked anything but beatable.

Indeed, this is their best run in the club’s history. It’s a record built on solid defending and a balanced offence that has at least seven players averaging eight points per game. The way Falcons controls games without letting opponents sniff at victory is astonishing and already, some are calling this the best lineup the club has ever had.

Yet, all wasn’t rosy at the start of the season. It seemed like the club had shot itself in the foot when they re-signed Stephen Omony, who had bitterly left the club in 2009 over contract disagreements.

Then there was the acquisition of Kenyans Jeff Omondi and Phillip Ameny. A Falcons squad dominated by foreign players endured a torrid time in 2010 with a series of dispirited performances driven by big egos.

However, coach Tony Oluka and his assistant Gad Eteu have artfully rejuvenated a team that missed last season’s playoffs. They have silenced critics by returning the club to the lofty heights and with only three games of the regular season left, it seems a formality they will be playoffs top seeds.

Coupled with the recent return of another prodigal son in point guard Abdullah Ramathan, it will take something extraordinary to stop Falcons. Ramathan’s all-round play will ease pressure on Omondi and Julius Lutwama, who are Falcons’ ball handlers.