National men’s basketball team (The Silverbacks) coach Mandy Juruni has confirmed veteran centre Henry Malinga will not play a part in this year’s Zone Five tournament slated for March 12 to 18.
The KIU Titans big man has not featured in any of Juruni’s training sessions since the team first assembled on January 30 at YMCA courts in Wandegeya. However, Malinga is just one of many players that have been irregular at training, making Uganda’s prospects of qualifying for a second successive Afrobasket championship bleak.
Without good preparations, as the situation appears to be presenting itself, it is unlikely that Juruni will be able to put out a formidable side; one that can compete for the two slots given to the teams in Zone Five. At the last qualifiers in September 2014, the Silverbacks only qualified in second place after Egypt proved unbeatable.
But this time, with the pride of the Rwandese, whom Uganda beat to second at stake, it is bound to be tougher for the Silverbacks. In fact, the competition from other regional players like Burundi, Kenya, Sudan and Tanzania cannot be discounted especially with the haphazard preparations they are experiencing.
Each player gets Shs 5,000 as daily training allowance, which is proving to be a big reason for the absenteeism. Malinga said his work schedule has been tight, which is why he has failed to show up for training.
But the underlying message in this is there are presently bigger priorities for him now than the Silverbacks, considering the amount they are receiving as daily allowance. Ivan Lumanyika only attended his first session on Monday this week while Jimmy Enabu, who is still struggling with a knee injury, only started active training on Monday.
Although Malinga has been dropped, Juruni does not appear to have plans of calling up another player. He will work with the eleven players available and then select eight, who will be joined by four other foreign- based stars for a camp in Cairo, Egypt before the tournament.
However, the absence Malinga has huge ramifications for the Silverbacks, whose major shortcoming is in the department of the big men. There are not many options there generally for Juruni.
Lumanyika remains the major option now. But with limited experience, burden of expectation and responsibility to lead the line is more likely than not, to weigh down on him. Lumanyika, even at his club KIU Titans, still has the jury out on him as far as his ability to take charge and be decisive in tough situations is concerned.
Despite the challenges, Juruni remains confident he has a competitive group of players to fill Malinga’s void. Furthermore, Fuba has the task on its hands to find the money for the team to travel for the qualifiers in time. The federation wants the team to depart on February 24 and acclimatize.
With only two slots available for all the Zone Five nations, Uganda’s realistic goal will be to fight for second place. Hosts Egypt are tipped to take first place because of their technical ability.
Meanwhile, the ladies team, Gazelles, who qualified as champions of Zone Five ahead of Egypt and Kenya in 2014, have also had to deal with absenteeism since last Saturday.
Maureen Amoding and Angella Namirimu have conspiciously been missing.