UCU Canons fail key test

By Charles Mutebi 

FROM contenders to playoff first round victims, the UCU Canons have gone down this path so often it might be time to consult an exorcist. 

Casting out the devil may be the only thing UCU need to do to win the men’s National Basketball League (NBL). 

UCU’s 2-1 series loss to the Falcons in this year’s playoff quarterfinals may not be so illogical when you consider the raw talent of the individuals on the Falcons team. 

But basketball is a team sport and going by UCU’s performances in the regular season, they were clearly a better unit than the Falcons. 

The Falcons spent much the regular season in self-destruction mode, a scenario induced by the financial hiccups of patron Denis Mbidde early in the campaign. 

Lowest position 

Instead of working towards a title onslaught, the Falcons disintegrated into a divided house with the management, coaching staff and players pulling in different directions. 

By the end of the regular season, the Falcons were seventh, the lowest position in their history. 

By contrast, a focused UCU finished the NBL regular season tied with leaders Power for the best record (17-4), aided by two wins over the Falcons. 

Yet when the two teams met in the postseason, it was UCU who were found out as Stephen Omony grabbed 29 points and 16 points in an epic performance that led the Falcons to an 84-76 in the series decider. 

“If your ambition is to win the title, losing in the quarterfinal is the same as losing in the semis or finals,” argued UCU coach Nick Natuhereza when asked to comment about the misfortune of meeting the Falcons in the first round. 

If UCU had met any other team in the bottom half of the draw but the Falcons, they would have probably qualified for the semis. 

The Canons have always dominated other local universities and begun this year by winning the East Africa universities crown in the torturous conditions of Tanzania. 

Yet since 2007, when they first qualified to the FUBA top division, UCU have won just one playoff series – last year’s 2-1 quarterfinal triumph against Power. So what is the problem? 

Said Natuhereza: “The problem has always been a lack of consistency. Our players leave when they finish school so we are always building new teams. It is hard to keep the same team together for two or three seasons.” 

The UCU coach added: “I expect all my players to return next year”. 

KIU, Ndejje and Rhinos 

Keeping together their best players is a challenge the KIU Titans and Ndejje Angels know quite well. 

Like UCU, KIU and Ndejje suffer the Universities’ curse of a high player-turnover. 

That, however, was not to blame for their quarterfinal exits in this year’s playoffs. 

KIU and Ndejje were swept, by City Oil and Riham Warriors respectively, simply be¬cause they were second best. 

KIU were unfortunate to face a City Oil side they swept in the regular season without the frontcourt pair of Edwin Kateregga and Donat Habiyambere. 

Kateregga, who hurt his knee two weeks to the playoffs and Habiyambere, who had returned home to Burundi, may have swung the series with City Oil in KIU’s favour. 

If KIU bring back the same team next year, they will have a good chance of making up for this season’s disappointment. 

Keeping together the team’s core for next year should be Ndejje’s first task. Walker Obedi’s team made huge strides this season even though they were ultimately schooled by the Warriors in the quarters. 

Obedi has consequently promised to strengthen his team in the offseason because he cannot see his current squad doing much better than this season. 

A-list players 

It remains to be seen where Obedi will get the crème to add to his current crop of players since it is hard to see any of Uganda’s A-list players moving to Ndejje. 

For the Charging Rhinos, losing 2-0 to D’Mark Power in the quarterfinals was not really a disappointment. 

It was a learning experience. The Rhinos started the season with the principal target of avoiding relegation. 

Reaching the postseason was a pleasant surprise that expectedly ended in a sweep. 

The Rhinos have an ambitious long term plan to return to their former glory. 

It will take time and commitment, so let’s just wait and see.