Who will be basketball MVP 2015?
Jan 19, 2016
Who is the MVP or, given a historical twist, who is the greatest of all time?
The hottest debate in local basketball right now is arguably the most emotive subject in the game anywhere at any given point in time.
Who is the MVP or, given a historical twist, who is the greatest of all time?
The technical arm of local basketball body FUBA have the last say in the annual determination of Uganda's several MVPs and their results from the last season will be revealed at the FUBA Awards Gala in a fortnight or so.
But making the final choice is not always easy and the public reaction to the selected winners can be more volcanic than accepting. FUBA's eight-man technical and competitions committee must select 10 MVPs from the just concluded 2015 season and while several choices will be agreeable, some will be divisive.
For instance, who will FUBA select as the 2015 men and women's National Basketball League regular season MVPs? A public poll would surprise you with the variety of answers.
"The regular season (MVP decision) is so wide," said Joseph Manano, one of the eight on the selecting committee.
"You have a lot of stats to consider and we are still going through them. I think by next week we will be ready with a shortlist of the contenders but right now, we are still fi nalising with a few things."
In addition to Manano, FUBA's technical and competitions committee has Barbara Okot, Yunus Nkutu, Timothy Odeke, Donan Babyazaire, Edmond Luumu, Alex Ndibami and Ronnie Kaboha but despite the strength in numbers, there is simply no formula for avoiding a controversial pick or two.
But perhaps it's because the public is not fully conversant with FUBA's criteria for choosing an MVP. For the selection committee, it's not about just points, rebounds or assists.
"We consider those statistics but we also look the role of players on their teams and how well they perform it," Manano explained.
"We also consider a player's leadership skills and discipline."
FUBA infamously named Geoffrey Soro and Benard Okumu as 2012 and 2013 men's regular season MVPs respectively, with the latter honoured despite being on a team that was relegated from the top tier at the end of the season.