Silverbacks Prepare For FIBA WC Qualifiers With Team Members Missing

Posted by: Kyeyune Andrew Jonathan in Basketball June 23, 2022

Uganda’s basketball team, the Silverbacks left for Egypt last week Friday to have some training for the forthcoming games.

However, only four players made the team from the National Basketball League and the rest will be foreign based players.

The four players are Jimmy Enabu, Tony Drileba, James Okello and Ivan Muhwezi who had initially been joined by two foreign players Deng Geu and Emmanuel Womala in Alexandria.

On Wednesday, Kieran Zziwa joined them while brothers Arthur Kaluma and Adam Seiko will probably join in tonight. Jonathan Komagum also joined the team on Wednesday afternoon. Some of the players will only be able to join the team in Kigali, Rwanda for the 2023 Fiba World Cup Qualifiers.

“Some guys still have commitments so we haven’t got everyone on time,” Silverbacks manager Albert Ahabwe said.

Robinson Opong and Phoenix Suns forward Ishmail Wainwright will join the team in Kigali. Despite the team being in disorder, head coach George Galanopolous remains confident the team will be ready for the competitions.

“We are very excited to be back with the team and preparations are going on well. The guys that are already here have been competing at a high level and we are looking to have the entire team together and prepare to move closer to qualifying for the World Cup,” the tactician said.

Jimmy Enabu, the Silverbacks captain also believes that the preparations are a step in the right direction. This is because the team has gone into the last two events without proper training.

The Silverbacks will face Mali on July 1, Cape Verde the next day and Nigeria thereafter. Ranked sixth in Africa after last year’s FIBA Afrobasket, the team must be in the top five after the qualifiers to make the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

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