Silverbacks (Uganda men’s senior national basketball team) Head Coach, George Galanopoulos says that his side’s loss to Cape Verde on Thursday, 2nd September that saw them exit the 2021 FIBA AfroBasket Championship, is not the end of the team because according to him, the group has got a lot of potential to achieve more.
Cape Verde beat Uganda 79-71 in the quarter finals of the tournament at the Kigali Arena in Rwanda but it was the latter’s best display at the continental showpiece as they made their third appearance at the championship.
For Galanopoulos, the American based tactician says that the players should instead be proud of themselves having raised the bar high amidst financial constraints they faced both during and in the buildup to the tournament.
“It’s not the end,” Galanopoulos said during an interview with FUBA media adding that; “I’m extremely proud of this group…I’m happy to be a part of this team. This is a great group of people with something very powerful that’s moving in the right direction.”
Albeit being disappointed for the team’s exit, Galanopoulos insists that Silverbacks put in a good shift throughout the tournament, somethig he is excited about and hopes that the side can build on it going forward.
“It’s always disappointing a little bit when you lose after you truly expected to win. This group went into this game (against Cape Verde) believing that we gonna win but sometimes you don’t get what you want. We did our job defensively for most of the game but we just didn’t convert in the offense, we didn’t shoot well,” Galanopoulos said.
Silverbacks claimed two wins but lost thrice at the AfroBasket. They beat Cameroon in the group stage and Nigeria in the last-16 playoffs to reach the quarters. They lost to Senegal and South Sudan at the group stage and Cape Verde in the quarter finals.
Silverbacks will now shift their focus to the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers for Africa Region that top off in November this year.
Galanopoulos says that there should be excitement and more support to have a training camp for the Silverbacks ahead of the global qualifiers.
Uganda and Cape Verde will renew their rivalry at the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers for Africa Region. The two sides are seeded in Group A alongside Nigeria and Mali.
