Silverbucks start preparations for Afrobasket qualifiers

Uganda's national men's basketball team, the Silverbacks hope to make it to the Afrobasket qualifiers for the third time when they compete in qualifiers due November 27-29 in Egypt.

The 12-man squad of locally-based players started preparations for the one of two window qualifiers, under coach Mande Juruni at Lugogo on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference at Hotel Africana before the team started training, FUBA president Nasser Sserunjogi said these were important qualifiers for the country and require good preparations.

He said failure to participate means Uganda will have to wait for another cycle of qualifiers after four years.

"The COVID-19 pandemic affected us this season as a country and we have not had any basketball which is a concern for our players in terms of fitness but we informed the selected players sometime back that we shall be preparing for this tournament," Sserunjogi said.

"So our local and foreign-based players have been undergoing individual training under the guidance of coach Mande Juruni, but of course it hasn't been enough so we now have to bring them together.

"We believe with the training here and from the camp in Egypt we shall put up a good performance because we need to win at least a game in each window in order for us to qualify for the Afrobasket qualifiers that will take place in Kigali in July 2021," Sserunjogi noted.

The second and last qualifier tournament will take place from February 19-21, 2021 in Morocco.

The team will be training four times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and Friday between 3-6 pm until November 12 when they will travel to Egypt where they will camp for two weeks before the tournament. They hope to play three friendlies in Egypt before the tournament.

Coach George Galanopoulus will also join the team in Egypt alongside the foreign-based players.

Uganda is pitted in Group E alongside host Egypt, Morocco, and a team to be announced after the last pre-qualifiers tournament in Cameroon involving South Sudan and another team.

General team manager Mohammed Santur said he was hopeful that the preparation they will undergo will be enough for the team to put on a good show.

Coach Mande Juruni said there was a need to have good preparations and that as the technical team they were ready to do whatever it takes to ensure the team is prepared to a level they will be able to compete.

The players will be tested for COVID-19 after every 14 days as per the ministry of health guidelines.

The local players will be joined by six foreign-based players that include Emmanuel Mugenga based in France, Samuel Kalwanyi (USA), Ishmail Wainwright (USA), Robinson Opong (Canada), Eric Rwahire (Canada), and Deng Geu (Denmark).

The local squad includes Jimmy Enabu, Tonny Drilleba, Ben Komakech, Fated Bbale, Ivan Muhwezi David Kongor, Joseph Ikong, Innocent Ochera, James Okello, Geoffrey Soro, Stanley Mugerwa, and Titus Lual.