Basketball in Uganda

For a while now I have been asking for one of the Dongo children to take me to a basketball game in Uganda. Since no one really helped me out with that, I had to find out myself when and where the games were held. I saw in the newspaper that there was a game on Wednesday in Lugogo. Although I knew where Lugogo is, I didn't know where in Lugogo the games were being held. I asked Thanx to research that and that I would take him to watch a game. So he figured it out from some friends and we went.

I really didn't know what to expect for basketball in Uganda. I had been told that some high schools had teams, and they were good. I didn't really believe them knowing that athletics in schools here is much different than in the US. Teams do no practice daily in Uganda. Ezra Dongo's soccer team might just practice on the weekends. Very different from the craziness in the US, but at the same time it's difficult to develop skills without practice. I had also played with some kids here and first of all there were very few who played and second, the ones who did weren't able to do much.

The first game we arrived for was the ladies matchup between Kampala International University (KIU which is just down the road from God Cares School) and Uganda Christian University (UCU). As I watched them get ready for the game, I realized that these girls can't shoot, but they are much more athletic than many of the girls I've coached. But after watching that game, I came to the conclusion that our Oaks Christian girls teams over the years would destroy these teams. They don't really have offensive sets and play a soft zone defense. While I was watching two American couples sat next to me. One of them was obviously a coach so I struck up a conversation with him. He ended up being the mens basketball coach at UCU. He told me that the players in Uganda were very gifted, but lazy and wondered what my take on their game would be. He also said most shots were layups or threes. Keep in mind that they have the international 3 out here.

So as the UCU Canons and the Sadolin Power warmed up, I watched intently. I noticed first that almost everyone out there warmed up by attempting and/or completing crazy dunks. Already something I'm not used to because high school teams in the US are not allowed to dunk in warmups. Then as I watched them even shoot free throws, I saw poor form and many bricks. (I could have built the whole God Cares High School if I could have collected them!) Finally the game began. There was no rhyme or reason to the offense for each team. It was one on one basketball much like "Street Ball" or "And1 Mixtape" without the flashy dribbling. I think the Power must have shot about 80 threes and made about 10 at most. And when the center for UCU dunked, he danced all the way back to the other side of the court. I have to say I was very entertained and the UCU Canons won a close game.

I'm glad I got to watch the game and dreamed of what it would look like with some discipline and increase in practice time. I was hoping that UCU Canons would win, but the playoff series is now tied at 1-1 because they got demolished Friday night so today I'm going again hoping that they can pull out a victory.