Written by Felix Eupal
Wednesday, 09 June 2010 17:57
Before the start of the basketball season, several leading pundits were preparing to pen down the epitaph of Falcons, Uganda’s most successful. After all, they had lost virtually the entire starting team and looked every inch disorganised. However, with almost a quarter of the season gone, Falcons have made many to eat the proverbial humble pie.
Six games played, six wins; most points made (536), least points conceded (328) – the best in the league. Put simply, Michael Mureithi’s charges are sailing in a spaceship as they intimidate and belittle opponents with blocks, shattering rebounds and rim braking slams.
This Friday, they face the biggest test of the season against table leaders and 2008 champions DMark Power at the YMCA grounds.
There are only three players that stayed behind from last season’s team; 2003 MVP Sam Obol, Peter Elungat and Ronnie Kalule and they’ve got sad memories of falling to Power at the playoffs two years ago and losing twice to the same team last season.
The rest of the Falcons players will be out to achieve the ultimate goal of cementing their status as favourites and maintaining the winning streak. Mureithi says; “our game plan is to cool their [Power’s] tempo and slow them down. This way we will force them to play as a team instead of using individual brilliance.”
Indeed, Power edge Falcons and the rest of the competition in mobility. They can run at the opposition tirelessly for 40 minutes while Falcons relies heavily on composure to check stubborn offenses – the same way they conquered Nkumba Marines.
But even with this in mind, Power will need to do the one thing that that they have never done best to ensure that they avoid a second loss. That is to play zero-tolerance defence.
Boniface Okello will have to ensure that Falcons star Mike Buzangu doesn’t tear apart them apart like he has done to the rest. On the other hand, Carroll Bisereko will need to pull out his A game to stop Richard Omondi, who has been registering double figures for the past three games.
Meanwhile Joseph Ikong, who had 42 points against Berkeley has to keep up with his explosive offense to keep Falcons busy at the back.
Not forgetting last year’s top scorer Isaac Afidra, the talisman has been off form this season and has failed to even register more than 10 points in any game so far. There is no better moment for him to redeem himself.
Power Skipper Norman Blick says; “our team is not going to focus on setting any plays but we will be out to enjoy the game and get the win.” He adds that “the most intriguing thing is that we are playing a team made up of foreigners and none of us has ever played the other.”