L. MathekaOjukwu banking on KPA’s underdog tag as BAL elite 16 gets underway
Reading Time: 3min | Tue. 22.11.22. | 10:12
The dockers are looking to become the first Kenyan club to qualify for BAL.
Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) men’s league champions and Basketball Africa League (BAL) representatives Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) get their Elite16 campaign underway with a clash against Urunani on Tuesday 22 November from 3 pm EAT.
The dockers are looking to become the first Kenyan club to qualify for BAL. Earlier in the month, the side qualified for the elite 16 after finishing second to Madagascar’s COSPN.
For the elite 16, the Mombasa-based club is in Pool A of the East Division qualifiers alongside Burundian side Urunani, NBA Academy and South Africa’s Cape Town Tigers.
Renowned tactician Antony Ojukwu takes over the reins from Cliff Owuor who was the head coach in the first-round qualifiers. Coach Sammy Kiki and Mike Opel who handle the side in the local league travel as assistant coaches.
“We are going there as underdogs,” Ojukwu admitted in an interview. “But remember the underdogs usually cause the biggest upset.”
Ojukwu says that while the draws look easy on paper, the side will be keen not to underrate any team. “It looks easy on paper, but we have to plan and scout well. We will win games on the line and also you can trade two points for three. We have to shoot and be consistent,” Ojukwu offered.
For their opening match, KPA are up against a Urunani side not new to continental competition, having appeared three times (2011, 2013 and 2014) in the FIBA African Champions Cup. Urunani are making their first trip to the Elite 16 qualifiers and will try to be the first club from Burundi to qualify for the BAL.
🚨Road to BAL next week!🚨
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Vision View TV will be streaming all the Road to BAL 2023, Elite 16 action Live.
From the 22nd to the 27th of November live from the Ellis Park Arena.https://t.co/lSPiFwdpaS #elite16 #roadtoBAL #BAL #BasketballAfricaLeague pic.twitter.com/uaX49nUcIr
The Burundian champions finished the preliminary qualifiers held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania last month with a perfect 3-0 record, overcoming Army Basketball Club of Tanzania), City Oilers of Uganda and Matero Magic of Zambia.
With such a tough opponent in their opener Ojukwu maintains that the team will need to work a lot on every aspect of the shooting.
“Most of the games are won from the substitution bench so I expect players coming from the bench to bring a lot of energy. There should not be any difference from the starters and those coming off the bench.
We have to maintain the same level of energy. We still have what it takes to go to the next round, though it is not going to be easy,” Ojukwu added.
In 2019 KPA got off their Road to BAL campaign in style winning all their four matches to finish top. They silenced home side Gendamerie Nationale Basketball Club (GNBC) 89-70.
Other results saw them thump Usoni (Comoros) 121-74, rattle Cobras Sports (South Sudan) 81-78 and destroy Beau Vallon Heat (Seychelles) 131-54.
They earned a ticket to the Elite 16 in Kigali, where KPA blanked Ferroviaro de Maputo (Mozambique) 79-67 and Cobra Sports 83-53 but sadly bowed out after missing their opening fixture against City Oilers (Uganda).
