The KCCA Leopards have surprised not only themselves by being the best women’s team in the National Basketball League (NBL).
With the second round of the regular season slated to tip-off this Friday, May 30 at the Lugogo Indoor Stadium, KCCA will return to action against the defending champions, the JKL Lady Dolphins, whom they defeated twelve days ago at Abja Park in Naalya.
That result saw KCCA record an eighth successive victory. This got many wondering whether this KCCA side is the real deal to win a first title since 2014. KCCA coach Rogers Sserunyigo does not want to be drawn into the title talk yet. There is still a long way to go in the season, he noted.
Otherwise, regarding their good run, he said, “This team is together emotionally. They work for one another, and follow the plays we set religiously most of the time.”
Over the last few seasons, KCCA has boasted of such strong squads, yet they have flattered to deceive. When asked to compare the squads he has been working with in the past, yet failed to win, Sserunyigo said that he was disinterested in history.
“My focus is on the players I have today. The shift they put in during training and the unassuming character, has ensured that they are grounded, but hardworking.”
Although Sserunyigo did not want to talk about how his charges floundered last season, and failed to make a real push for the championship, therein was a catch. Observers, many of whom preferred to remain anonymous, said that the team then was not together.
But at the same time, there were a number of egoistic individuals in the team. Without proper team chemistry, KCCA was not a team anymore, one of the current players, that preferred anonymity highlighted.
Yet, now, with a team not littered with stardust, the tide has changed. For some reason, there is more energy and dynamism in the team. Sserunyigo hinges that to the fact that they have over the last couple of seasons added youthful players like Tracy Namugosa, Sherina Mwenyango, Maggie Baagala, Perus Nyamwenge and Sharua Nakirya.
These players are willing runners and learners, as seen in the way they battled with JKL Dolphins recently. Above all, they are hungry to win. In a number of games during the just concluded first round, KCCA has played a zone, and stuck to it.
Previously, the team looked disorganized, while this time, the players appear to be listening to their coach and applying themselves as expected. As Sserunyigo pointed out, the first round will mean nothing if they do not keep improving.
It is against that background that Sserunyigo wants to see his players shoot better as a team. On offence, KCCA (777) are only second to the JKL Dolphins (790) in terms of points scored. The improvement of Baagala in picking up offensive rebounds has been evident, while the shooting of Namugosa and Nyamwenge has kept them in good stead, and difficult to outscore.
On the other hand, KCCA may have the fifth best defence, but they are just short of the best defence, UCU Lady Canons by 84 points. But put into perspective, UCU has played one game less than KCCA.
UCU are awaiting the national basketball body’s decision on their game with the Angels, which was not played because UCU arrived at the venue past the scheduled tip-off time. As the cliché goes, defence wins championships, and KCCA will probably not be thinking of rewriting that.
To beat the JKL Dolphins for the second time in 14 days this Friday, May 30, will require good defending, obviously. But at the same time, outscoring them, and the others in the division. Then will be known whether KCCA are the real deal, Sserunyigo reasoned.