{"id":10217,"date":"2021-05-13T15:50:04","date_gmt":"2021-05-13T15:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?p=10217"},"modified":"2021-05-13T15:33:26","modified_gmt":"2021-05-13T15:33:26","slug":"opong-ready-to-fly-uganda-flag-at-bal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/opong-ready-to-fly-uganda-flag-at-bal","title":{"rendered":"Opong ready to fly Uganda flag at BAL"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Uganda<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>When the Basketball Africa League (BAL) tips off on Sunday in Kigali, Rwanda, only one Ugandan player will have the opportunity to take to the floor.Robinson Odoch Opong will turn out for Nigerian outfit Rivers Hoopers who open the tournament in a clash with host club Patriots at the Kigali Arena.He joined the team as a replacement for injured Festus Ezeli, the 2015 NBA champion with Golden State Warriors.<\/p>\n

Opong\u2019s exploits with the national basketball team, the Silverbacks, and his experience on the continent attracted the attention of the Nigerian team.Having played for Uganda at the 2017 Fiba Afrobasket Championship and 2021 Afrobasket Qualifiers, Opong is no stranger to this level. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely something I\u2019m looking forward to,\u201d Opong says ahead of the inaugural BAL tournament run by the NBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is another opportunity to play at a high level and compete on a high stage,\u201d he adds.The Kigali Arena, where the tournament will be held, carries no good memories for the Canada-based guard. The last time he stepped on the floor there in December 2019, he failed to lead Ugandan side City Oilers to the group stages of BAL.<\/p>\n

Second chance<\/b><\/p>\n

Opong had the opportunity to play at this level with a Ugandan side but City Oilers failed to get into the lucrative group stages after a dismal display at the last hurdle of qualifiers in 2019. Whether it\u2019s with Oilers or not, Opong has the chance to lift the black, yellow and red flag at the event. \u201cI remember being disappointed,\u201d the 32-year old reminisces of Oilers\u2019 failed attempt. The guard\u2019s call came in late as the Hoppers had settled for Ezeli who later pulled out injured. \u201cWhen the offer came it felt like the right thing to do,\u201d Opong says.<\/p>\n

That he was selected by a Nigerian side to take one of the four available spots for foreign players is not something Opong takes for granted. It is all about making every opportunity count now. Former NBA guard Ben Uzoh, Taren Sullivan and Chris Daniels are the other three signings by the Hoopers.<\/p>\n

Covid-19 threat<\/b><\/p>\n

The inaugural BAL season was originally scheduled for March 13, 2020 but was postponed following the outbreak of Covid-19.The tournament is now set to be played from May 16-30 in the Rwandan capital under strict supervision and Opong hopes for good health.\u201cI pray that everyone stays healthy so we can accomplish big things together,\u201d the 6ft 3in players says. His team has designs on getting into the playoffs and eventually competing for the top prize.<\/p>\n

BAL GROUPS Group A:US Monastir (Tunisia), Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria), Patriots BBC (Rwanda) and GNBC (Madagascar)Group B: Petro de Luanda (Angola), AS Sal\u00e9 (Maroc), AS Police (Mali) and FAP (Cameroun)Group C: Zamalek (Egypt), AS Douanes (Senegal), Ferrovi\u00e1rio de Maputo (Mozambique) and GS P\u00e9troliers (Algeria).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. When the Basketball Africa League (BAL) tips off on Sunday in Kigali, Rwanda, only one Ugandan player will have the opportunity to take to the floor.Robinson Odoch Opong will turn out for Nigerian outfit Rivers Hoopers who open the tournament in a clash with host club Patriots at the Kigali Arena.He joined […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":10216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-10217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nOpong ready to fly Uganda flag at BAL - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When the Basketball Africa League (BAL) tips off on Sunday in Kigali, Rwanda, only one Ugandan player will have the oppo ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/opong-ready-to-fly-uganda-flag-at-bal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opong ready to fly Uganda flag at BAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When the Basketball Africa League (BAL) tips off on Sunday in Kigali, Rwanda, only one Ugandan player will have the oppo ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/opong-ready-to-fly-uganda-flag-at-bal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-13T15:50:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/05\/img-609d46a00864b.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1384\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/opong-ready-to-fly-uganda-flag-at-bal#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/opong-ready-to-fly-uganda-flag-at-bal\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Opong ready to fly Uganda flag at BAL\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-13T15:50:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/opong-ready-to-fly-uganda-flag-at-bal\"},\"wordCount\":486,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/opong-ready-to-fly-uganda-flag-at-bal#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/05\/img-609d46a00864b.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/opong-ready-to-fly-uganda-flag-at-bal#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/opong-ready-to-fly-uganda-flag-at-bal\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/opong-ready-to-fly-uganda-flag-at-bal\",\"name\":\"Opong ready to fly Uganda flag at BAL - 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