BAL targeting Warriors eyeimprovements

William Balozi is set to guide his charges, Ulinzi Warriors, in the second and final qualification phase for the Basketball Africa League (BAL) set for 14 to 19 December as the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) men's league champions chase a ticket to the continental showpiece.

The tactician says the side has a big room for improvement based on how they played in the first round qualification, adding that getting the basics right will go a long way in helping them qualify for BAL 2022. 

Warriors got their campaign off to a losing start, falling to Burundi's New Star before bouncing back to defeat South Sudan's Cobra Sport in the three-team group to proceed to the 'Elite 16' as the second best team in the group after the Burundians 

"We have six weeks to work on our shortcomings before heading for the final round of qualification. We were not at our best in the furst round in Dar es Salaam and we have to work on the things we did not execute well. 

Mabonga steers Warriors to final round of BAL qualifiers

Our rebounding needs to be worked on and our boxing out. Against New Star for instance, we allowed them second chance points as we did not execute the two well and after working on that in the Cobra match, we managed to win," Balozi said. 

The final round will have 16 teams divided in two groups. The two groups, each group playing their matches in one venue, will further be split into two pools of four teams.

At the pool stage, teams play in a round robin format with the top four proceeding to the semi final. The finalists and the Third-Place finisher qualify for BAL joining six other automatically qualified teams. 

"Competition will be longer and tougher bit we want to be in the final of whichever group we land. This will call for the team to be more tactical. We need to deny the opponents those scoring chances both on the paint and outside the arc while being clinical with the chances we get.

No time to rest for Warriors as league action awaits

For instance, South Sudan capitalised on our passive defence to score on three points until we changed the way we were defending. The way we played, defensively, in the final quarter of the Cobra Sport match should guide how we handle matches going forward, as we strive to make our dispay better," explained Balozi. 

The tactician further challenged his players, especially the small men, to drive to the paint more and bag those points as the end game is to win matches and qualify. 

Warriors play two KBF league matches this weekend and the tactician says they are using the remaining league matches as part of their build-up for the December qualifiers.