Africa-Press – Uganda. The national men’s basketball team – Silverbacks – are set to depart for Kigali, Rwanda today ahead of the Fiba Afrobasket Championship that tips off August 24. This will be Uganda’s third time at the continental showpiece and also the worst preparation the Silverbacks have had. They will have less than a week of practice before their opening game of the competition against powerhouse Senegal on August 25.
While the contingent from Uganda leaves for Kigali today, the group from the rest of the world, including head coach George Galanopoulos, is only expected to join the team in the middle of the coming week.“It is the worst preparation of our three Afrobaskets,” team manager Albert Ahabwe said ahead of the trip.
Lugogo out of bounds
The 42-day lockdown ordered by President Museveni on June 18 gave no exceptions to sports activities and halted any plans the team had for the locally-based players.Indoor sport is still not permitted in the country and efforts to have the Silverbacks access Lugogo Stadium hit a snag on several occasions. National Council of Sports (NCS) advised Fuba to wait for a green light. It never came. A planned camp in Egypt didn’t materialise for the team with NCS indicating there were no funds for the trip. The team was set to play Egypt and two other countries in Alexandria before heading to Kigali for the finals.“It is unfortunate but we won’t have enough time together as a team,” assistant coach Mandy Juruni said.
Sole workouts
“Everyone has been working individually and that will help.”The team will also rely on the chemistry generated in the camp held in Egypt before the clash with Morocco in July.The team that won in Morocco to seal qualification is not expected to change much ahead of the finals.Toronto Raptors’ Ishmail Wainwright is still expected to link up with the team after completing summer league engagements with his new team.
No big changes
Arthur Kaluma, Eric Rwahwire, Robinson Opong, Kieran Zziwa and Deng Geu are all expected to join the team in the course of the coming week. A few additions to be added await clearance from Fiba and Kaluma’s elder brother, Adam Seiko, is one of those being considered.Team captain Jimmy Enabu will lead the crew from home and is the only surviving member of the team that played at Uganda’s first ever appearance in 2015.
