By Charles Mutebi
MTN-FUBA Playoff finals
November 20 at YMCA
Women: A1 v Leopards
THEY conquerred the champions, UCU Canons, in the playoff semi-finals. But can A1 Challenge go one better and win this year’s ladies MTN-FUBA basketball league title?
It sounds like a predictable question but that is until one considers that A1 have made it to the last three finals as favourites, only to lose every single time.
In fact this year, Hamza Nyambogo’s team go into the finals as the underdog. Few people fancy them to last the distance against the KCC Leopards. Leopards won the regular season displaying a highly enthralling brand of attacking basketball.
The KCC side went on to see off KIU Rangers 3-0 in their best-of-five semifinal playoffs, something that must worry A1.
However, Nyambogo believes his side have corrected the one weakness that has prevented them from adding to their sole championship, which they won in 2005.
“It has mainly been our mental (strength) that has been lacking,” Nyambogo argued. “But we have really improved. You saw how we won the semi-finals (against the Canons). Even when we were 10 points down, we didn’t give up.”
Indeed A1 battled hard in eliminating the Canons even if they ultimately swept the best-of-five semi-final series. They won all three games with a collective margin of eight points and that is the kind of psychological solidity they must replicate against the Leopards if they are to have any chance.
“KCC are playing well,” acknowledged Nyambogo. “That’s why they won the regular season. The problem with playing them is that they’ll keep us on our feet all the time.”
The two rivals will be playing in the inaugural best-of-seven finals series, up from the five-game series that was in existance until last season. In 2007, the Leopards beat A1 3-2 to win the championship.
Two years earlier, A1 had defeated Leopards 3-2 in winning their maiden championship and Nyambogo has vowed this will also be their year.