Doubts for UCU and Warriors

 

 

 

 

 

 

What will the Pemba Warriors and UCU Canons offer?

 

At this point, it is less a question than an expression of doubt about the hopes of two of the biggest names in the National Basketball League (NBL), who open their respective 2018 season accounts with a meeting on Saturday, at Lugogo.

 

The Warriors and Canons clash in the last game of a six-match schedule, which will also see the Ndejje Angels, UPDF Tomahawks and Charging Rhinos open their campaigns. In the women's NBL, Angels take on Stormers while A1 Challenge and KIU Rangers face off in a match that will offer some early insight into the extensive squad changes that the two made in the off-season.

 

Still, the Warriors-UCU battle is the main course on the menu, even if its appeal is affected by the uncertainty with which the two rivals have, starting the season. Both clubs have lost key pieces without ably replacing them, leaving their fans on the way to an emotionally challenging season.

 

For Warriors fans especially, a return to obscurity would be hard to swallow after a 2017 season in which they finished the regular season with the best record before collapsing in the playoff semi-finals after the mysterious departure of team star Mike Bazangu.

 

Warriors' co-patron, Jack Pemba has been in the news lately for reasons other than basketball, including rumoured financial troubled. Consequently, doubts have risen about his ability to maintain his interest in the Warriors even though his name remains officially attached to the club. And without Pemba's funding, the Warriors will not have another competitive season.

 

For UCU, another rebuilding phase of their perennial cycle is here after the departure of Brian Namake and Jonathan Egau, two of the team's pillars over the last four years. It means fewer wins than before and in all probability, a less competitive NBL.