Silverbacks' winless run raises alarms for Ugandan basketball

FIBA Africa World Cup qualifiers 

Results 

Egypt 77 Uganda 70
Mali 82 Uganda 59
Angola 95 Uganda 62
Egypt 91 Uganda 52
Mali 84 Uganda 73
Angola 90 Uganda 68

Uganda pushed Egypt all the way to overtime.

The opportunity to grab a victory before exiting the FIBA Africa World Cup qualifiers was still alive at the death.

Maybe not!

Egypt outscored Uganda 10-3 in overtime to ensure the Silverbacks misery would not be broken - a final nail delivered to this unremarkable qualification coffin.

The eventual record made for grim reading. Not to mention the implications.

Six played, six lost. The uncertainty of what comes next is what local basketball must grapple with.

Uganda were never going to qualify for the World Cup. Even the most optimistic if realistic view would have conceded as much.

But the extent of Uganda's struggles across the six games was astonishing. Losing by 39 to Egypt, falling by 33 and 22 to Angola and collapsing by 23 to Mali, the Silverbacks were clearly not at the same competitive level as their Group D opponents.

Uganda have not fallen back to pre-2014 levels yet, but change is necessary to prevent the standards from getting there.

The next World Cup qualification phase awaits for the 12 teams that made it through the opening round. That the Silverbacks were not among them sums up the whole story.