American duo boost KPA squad ahead of Road To BAL games

Reigning Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) champions Kenya Ports Authority have acquired the services of two American players; Chris Brady and George A Williams as the team ramps up their preparations for the 2023 Basketball Africa League (BAL) qualifiers.

KPA in October successfully navigated through the first round of qualifiers, finishing second in Group D behind Malagasy side COSPN therefore making the cut to the Elite 16 round.

KPA to begin Elite 16 quest against Urunani in exciting road To BAL

The Dockers are in Pool A of the East Division qualifiers alongside Burundian side Urunani, NBA Academy- an invited team and South Africa’s Cape Town Tigers. The games are set to tip off on Tuesday 22 November to Sunday 27 November, when the three division teams making it to the BAL finals will be made official.

Following the surprise 66-60 loss to COSPN in the previous round, KPA coach Sammy Kiki admitted to a few loopholes in his team that needed correction and hence the recent additions to the team.

“Looking back to last month’s games, it was clear that we needed improvements in our guard and center positions,” Kiki said. “It is for that reason that we, as a technical bench, have decided to settle on the two players from abroad who we are very sure will improve our team.”

Massively counted on to seal the guard position will be Nigerian-USA player George A Williams, a natural shooting guard hailing from Oman club Al Bashaer.

The six foot six man went undrafted in the NBA in 2013 from WBU college and posted an average of 15.0 points per game in the 2021/2022 season in Oman.

The 32 year old has also played for Dominican Club Reales and Marinos from Venezuela.

Chris Brady, USA-Puerto Rican national on the other side will lead the rotation at center, a position that Kiki believes will be vital in the tournament.

“All the games will be tough, our defense was lacking and with Chris, who is a big, we will have more tenacity on both ends of the floor,” Kiki noted.

Chris Bradley, a free agent, last played for Puerto-Rican club Farjado, averaging 4.8 points on 56.8% shooting inside the paint. The 27 year old also recorded 25 blocks and 11 steals in his 32 games played last season.

Speaking about the detailed scouting program that led to settling on the two players, Kiki also mentioned that they were closely monitoring Kenya Moran’s center Bush Wamukota, who was unfortunately snapped up by Ivorian side ABC.

“We had initiated talks with Bush but the deal fell through in the last minutes prompting us to go with our second option,” Kiki mentioned, adding that the international based players involved in the previous round, Wade Lowman, Tony Townsend and Ariel Okal had been released, with the latter securing a deal with Al Bashaer earlier this month.

“The two players will be on short contracts, serving us only in the Elite 16,” Kiki clarified. “Should we need their services if we make it through to the final round, we will communicate.”

Blow as Sports Dispute Tribunal orders against FKF decision on promotions and relegations

The squad is currently in residential training in Mombasa and will be expected to fly out to Johannesburg, South Africa on Sunday evening.

A slight tweak in the coaching team will now see Kiki take over as the head coach with Cliff Owour being unavailable. KPA women’s coach Anthony Ojukwu and Michael Opel will be the assistants.