NAIROBI, Kenya, May 12 – Ahead of their debut at the continent’s prestigious tourney, Basketball Africa League (BAL) boss Amadou Gallo Fall, has tipped debutants led by Nairobi City Thunder to raise the level of competition in the Nile conference slated to take place at the BK Arena in Kigali May 17-25.
Action now shifts to East Africa (Nile Conference) for the final group phase duel after games in Rabat, Morocco (Kalahari Conference), and Dakar, Senegal (Sahara Conference), with slots for the playoffs set to be held in Pretoria, South Africa, up for grabs.
In Kigali, Kenya’s league defending champions Nairobi City Thunder will square it out with another debutants Made By Basketball (MBB, South Africa), Al Ahli Tripoli (Libya) and hosts Armée Patriotique Rwandaise Basketball (APR, Rwanda).
Top two teams from the Nile Conference and a team with a better record between FUS Rabat (Morocco, Kalahari Conference) and the team which will finish third in the Nile Conference will join Al Ittihad (Egypt), Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria), US Monastir, Petro de Luanda and Kriol Star in the Playoffs in South Africa.
With the stars aligning for Nairobi City Thunder, who are currently unbeaten in the league, Amadou expressed optimism in the team’s role it has played to inspire and develop the game in Kenya.
“Anytime we have a new franchise and country in the league is growth, I was in Nairobi for the road to BAL qualifiers and witnessed Nairobi City Thunder play. It’s good to see the ownership decided to invest in basketball in Kenya,” Amadou outlined.
He added, “The owners were intentional in their goal of playing in the BAL this season, so I congratulate them for the vision and believe to compete for the first time in the BAL. It was good to see some of the young local talents from Kenya play because these are the initiatives that we are encouraging.”
Nairobi City Thunder warmed up for the BAL showdown with back-to-back league wins after beating Stanbic 77-75 before seeing off NBK 62-48.
Head Coach Brad Ibs exuded confidence in the team saying they will leave nothing to chance.
“Everyone is looking great and eager to compete. Representing Kenya in BAL is a big deal. As long as we keep our defence solid, be lethal on attack and embrace team work, we will be happy with our performance, if we do not do those things, we will be disappointed with the results.”
“All the teams in our group are good, they have high level players, so we will approach the games with respect to all teams,” American Ibs said.
The team is scheduled to depart for Kigali Wednesday, May 14.
For the first time, Kigali will not be hosting the play-offs, and whether the excitement and fans turn up is expected to be the same, Amadou said;
“We don’t expect any drop off in Kigali now that it’s hosting a qualifier and not final. For the past five years, we have hosted the game in Rwanda, we have seen the impact it has had on young players and local league, where the federation has done an incredible work. The fan base is there, so we expect a great show because we have new teams playing in the Nile Conference, so I think the excitement will remain the same.”
On counting the strides, the BAL has made for the past five seasons, Amadou committed to better the League in the coming years.
“We always looking at being innovative…having an in-season showcase like the BAL All-Star is something that is in the pipeline, the question would be what would be the time line.”
