Uganda men’s national basketball team, Silverbacks will have a 10-day residential camp in Cairo, Egypt ahead of their upcoming Afrobasket qualifiers match(es) against Morocco and Cape Verde (if necessary) slated for next month.
12 players for the camp and tournament were named on Wednesday and they will leave this week if financial issues are settled.
After the camp in Cairo, Silverbacks are expected to travel to Rabat on July 5th for a game against Morocco on July 8th. If Silverbacks win they will automatically qualify for the Afrobasket finals, but if not they will play Cape Verde on 15th July and if triumphant they will qualify for the said finals.
Uganda’s team compromises of five local and seven foreign based players all of which have been competitive at club level in the recent past albeit the recent halting of sports in Uganda.
“In terms of preparation for the team, I think this time round for both the local and foreign based players, everyone has been very active with their teams and playing games,” Silverbacks local based coach Mandy Juruni said.
“We have been in the lockdown recently but we told them (the players) to keep in shape because we know we have a camp to prepare for games. All foreign based players are active and playing in their teams so in terms of shape, I believe all the 12 players are going to be in good condition,” Juruni added.
Juruni also believes that the Cairo camp will do good for the team and possibly they will qualify for the Afrobasket finals through the Rabat event.
However, if Silverbacks lose all their Group E games, it will then go down to goal difference with Morocco needing a +8 win over Uganda while Cape Verde need a +6 win to come atop Uganda. Egypt is already qualified for the finals but the top three teams from each group and a wildcard will form the 16 teams that will qualify for Afrobasket finals.
The event proper, FIBA AfroBasket is scheduled to be held in Kigali, Rwanda from August 24 to September 5 2021.
Silverbacks Team:
Jimmy Enabu (City Oilers), James Okello (City Oilers), Tonny Drileba (City Oilers), Benjamin Komakech (City Oilers), Titus Odeke (UCU Canons), Ronson Odoch Opong (Canada), Eric Rwahwire (Canada), Keiran Zziwa (Canada), Ghedi Muhamed (USA), Geu Dengeu John (Denmark), Ishmail Wainright (France) and Arthur Kaluma (USA).
Coaches:
George Galanopoulos, Mandy Juruni, Michael Schmitz and Andrew Tendo Senyondwa.
