The City Oilers have been at the summit of Ugandan basketball for close to a decade now including 7 straight titles of the NBL – the top basketball league in the country. There was sentiment that in the post COVID-19 era, teams would be able to slow down the Oilers trajectory. Of course the pandemic that came with total lockdowns, and Standard Operating Procedures that could not facilitate sports activities is the reason particularly why we’ve not seen NBL basketball in 2 years. Ardent Ugandan basketball followers therefore looked forward to the UCU Open tournament, the most prominent invitational basketball tournament on the Ugandan basketball calendar. For years now, the March Tournament has always shade light on how teams have prepared or are preparing for the respective forthcoming basketball seasons. Particularly in the a post Covid era, the anticipation was candid.
Oilers went unbeaten at this tournament, but they did not go untested. At the semis was the physical challenge that UPDF Tomahawks posed. UPDF has made some key adjustments to its player ranks which we shall discuss later. And in the finals, their now arch adversary and darer – UCU Canons. The entertaining final was marred by some inconsistent refereeing which I shall not give a voice at this point, but man was it revealing. The Canons have been daring the Oilers, including the last known championship that ended in a tie breaking game 7 between these two teams. It’s evident, these are the two structurally strongest basketball programs in the country and for political correctness I’ll say the competition between these two is going to remain stiff.
City Oilers have beefed up their ranks with Forwards Ivan Lumanyika and a healthier Francis Azolibe has retuned from his short stint at Namuwongo Blazers. Emmanuel Okumu has also returned from Namuwongo. Mandy Juruni can now afford to keep Jimmy Enabu for critical situations while letting his youngers guys like Ivan Muhwezi and Ruai Luak carry most of the load.
Ruai Luak is MVP:
The 18 year old guard is testament that the grind doesn’t cheat. Ruai has been putting in time in the gym and it shows when he plays and boy is he smooth. It was incredible seeing coach Mandy and his teammates trusting him with critical possessions in games. A few days to this tournament, I intimated that this wasn’t going to be a tournament like any other, I was convinced that at this particular tournament, a new star or new stars will be christened just like Jimmy Enabu was back in 2013 when he broke out as MVP of the tournament and set himself on course to be a Ugandan great. Needless to say, Ruai did just that. Should this kid play in Uganda, he’s a problem! But this race is not without a one Baale Fayed. At his height, we are witnessing one of the most creative players Uganda has seen. The plays Fayed makes, some of them can be compared to turning gold out of straw. Ivan Muhwezi , Jerry kayanga and Canons’ Forward Sifuma are the other guys that are going to be a big problem.
The NBL will finally return this Friday , 11th March 2022. Together with the guys here at Basketball256, we shall be sharing loads of thoughts on the upcoming games on the Basketball256 socials. Be sure to follow us 😉
By Cucu Brian | Twitter: @Cucubrian
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