Troopers hunt down Dolphins
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday August 9, 2019 14:14
Troopers come into the clash fired up after flooring Spartans in a one-sided affair last weekend at the same venue.
Dolphins have a chip up their shoulder after losing their last meeting to Troopers. Dolphins’ coach, Trynos Moyo told Mmegi Sport that they expect a tough match.
“We just have to execute our defence very well and offensively, our half court game has to be on point. Troopers are an experienced team with good shooters,” he said.
Dolphins captain, Kesaobaka Ndawanyana is expected to lead the young team. Aobakwe Bokosi is back in the line up after school vacation.
Emmanuel Ramoshebi is expected to be at the forefront when Troopers step onto the court.
Troopers’ coach, William Nyangu said preparations for the league clash went well. “The boys are fired up for the game. We know we are up against a tough team and will measure up to the challenge. Yesterday (Thursday), was our last day for preparations and we worked on our strategy to win the game,” said Nyangu.
He also said there are going to be some changes in the line up that played last weekend.
“Yes, we are going to make some changes because we will be using a different game plan. We will insert a traditional centre this time around to protect the rim on defence and also to get good inside presence for rebounds,” he added.
Meanwhile, league sponsorship continues to be a headache for the Botswana Basketball Association (BBA). The association’s spokesperson, Thabang Maranyane said lack of sponsorship affects the growth of basketball.
“It affects growth in terms of players retention and officials.
Athletes and sports administrators stand a chance to build careers around basketball if we have the support of a sponsor.
League sponsorship has an opportunity to open an avenue of economic growth in terms of merchandise and sport facilities,” he said.
Maranyane said four clubs joined the men’s league this season being, Selebi-Phikwe Knights, Mo Town Eagles from Molepolole, BIUST Trojans and Glen Valley Tigers. He said the joining of the league shows that interest and growth of basketball is promising.
The BBA has the A League which is made up of six top performing teams from last year and the B League with bottom - four teams from last season and the newly registered teams.
“At the end of the league, we have a play off where we will see the bottom two teams (A league) battling the top two teams from the B league for a chance of promotion or relegation to the other league.
This structure breeds a lot of competition and helps in developing basketball,” he added.