Screenshot
The JT Lady Jaguars and UCU Lady Canons headline the tip-off of the National Basketball League (NBL) second round on Friday, April 24 at the Lugogo Indoor stadium.
When the two sides met at the tail-end of the first round, the Lady Jaguars edged the Lady Canons 55-51 in what was undoubtedly a tough encounter. Both these sides lost one game of their eleven first-round games, a pointer to how competitive they have been so far.
Few will question that the Lady Canons and Lady Jaguars are the favourites for the women’s championship this season, especially when one considers that the next best teams, JKL Lady Dolphins and KCCA Leopards have already lost three and two games respectively.
However, considering that the defending champions, JKL Dolphins seem to have waned in their powers this season (they only had six players of the mandatory 12 to field in their final four games of the first round), the Lady Jaguars, who were runners-up last year, following a 1-4 aggregate loss in the best of seven series have been earmarked to seize the moment.
But are they the complete package, yet? Since match-day two of the season, when the Lady Jaguars lost to the Lady Dolphins, the former went on a nine-game winning streak. It was a run that impressed Jaguars coach Sudi Ulanga, particularly because of the consistency and improved game management he saw his team showcase in each passing game.
Despite that, Ulanga still felt that his side were still a work in progress, and is not about to admit that they are champions-elect, yet. It remains a long season, and a lot can still change during the course of it.
But even more crucially, the playoffs require a lot of fortitude and character to cope with the pressure, compared to what is needed in the regular season. Last year, the Lady Jaguars did not only beat the Lady Dolphins on the opening day of the season, but also won game one of the playoff finals by 10 points.
Yet, at the end of it all, they could not keep up with the dominant showing of JKL eventually. It was evident that the Lady Jaguars failed to manage the pressure of the final, something that was seen in their poor executions.
Lady Dolphins’ Hope Akello was a major stumbling block for the Lady Jaguars. In fact, at the end of the series, Ulanga admitted that beefing up his forwards line was imperative to give them an extra edge.
He went out to add Amy Chan, who has not played as much though, and Bridget Aber, from UCU. That would relieve Sarah Ageno and Mercy Batamuliza, who had to play a lot more than was required if the best of them was to be achieved.
Yet, it went without saying that more was also needed from the guards in terms of scoring in order to add to the team’s threat. Youthful players like Priscilla Nambogo appear to have stepped up for the Lady Jaguars.
But even others like Annet Among, a centre, who hardly played many minutes last year impressed in the win against the Lady Canons in the absence of Aber and point-guard Rhoda Naggita, who has been away on bereavement leave.
Against that background, the Lady Jaguars seem to have adopted a new “can-do” winning mindset, and the squad depth needed to go the distance.
Matched against a really good and deep squad Lady Canons, their face-off this week will not be short of classic. But even more interestingly, it could be another building block to a first championship later this year.
nsimbe.jv@gmail.com
