The JKL Lady Dolphins redeemed themselves in the quarter finals with a 17 point victory against Rwandese side APR W BBC.

This came after the Lady Dolphins had dramatically lost an 11 point, made 2 huge costly turnovers in the final 20 seconds and lost their final group game against another Rwandese side REG, just the day before.

The Lady Dolphins however seemed to have left the past behind them after showing dominant display in the quarter finals with the lead bulging to as many as 32 at the half time break.

Match Statistics

Brenda Ekone 22 pts, 5 reb, 1 ast

Ritah Imanishimwe 18 pts, 6 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl

Hope Akello 11 pts, 12 reb,

Becky Longom 10 pts, 12 reb, 1 ast

Evelyne Nakiyinji 9 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl

JKL : APR

PF Turnovers 9 : 19

Second Chance 23   :    11

Fast Break 17 : 7

P in Paint 36 : 20

Bench 14 : 16

Key Takeaways

There is no doubt that the JKL Lady Dolphins boast of a wealth of experience, however their game needs to improve significantly if they are to go all the way.

Brenda Ekone has been a force for the last 6+ years in the NBL, winning top point scorer every year during that span. Her game hasn’t slowed down a bit and she showed once again what she can offer you in the game. She had 10/16, 62.5% FG and most of the time, she was attacking the rim. Her speed is unparalleled and if the team is to win, she needs to play the same way, running at defenders, attacking the rim more and drawing as many fouls as possible.

The Lady Dolphins main weapon during the NBL season was the MVP Hope Akello but her numbers were a bit low in the quarter finals. Despite making a double double, Hope just attempted 4 Field Goals and made 3 of them. For a player of Hope’s stature, you’d have hoped that she will attempt more than 10 per game and with her accuracy you’d be hoping for than 15 points per game from her.

In a game were the Lady Dolphins scored more than half of their points in the paint, Hope should have given more points since the weak point of the opponents was where she operates best.

Closing out games has been a problem for the Lady Dolphins. As seen from the loss against REG, the Dolphins were panicking a little bit despite having had a huge lead against APR. In the final 5 minutes of the game, the Dolphins scored only 3 points, and that is a scary stat more so if the game is a close one.

The turnovers also have cost the Dolphins significantly. They gave up 19 points from turnovers, most coming in the final quarter. This could be down to the concentration levels but the coach and players need to figure out a way to stop gifting their opponents more so in crunch time.

One of the other strengths of the Dolphins has been the second chance opportunities. Hope and Becky use their height, size and strength to full advantage picking out offensive rebounds and giving their team another chance. They made 23 second chance points against APR and will need to work even more when they take on KPA which also has strong, aggressive players.

The 3 point shot hasn’t fallen well for the Lady Dolphins as a team. Only Ritah Imanishimwe has gotten to knock down a few of them. She made 6/13, all her points coming from behind the arc.

With the addition of Mary Amaniyo and Shakira Nanvubya to the roster, we all thought that the 3 point options would have increased significantly but seems not to be the case. The Lady Dolphins haven’t been as consistent in that area as they’d love to be and the other options, Flavia and Evelyne need to also attempt and make more of those shots.

The bench

3 of the players did not players while the other played under 4 minutes. This means that the coach highly trusts about 8 players and they are expected to appear on the floor for large volumes of the game.

Of the 14 bench points against APR, Nakiyinji made 9 while Amaniyo and Nanvubya made the other 5.

In the group game against KPA, again the Lady Dolphins had just 14 points compared to KPA ‘s 35. The bench players need to contribute highly when called up if the Dolphins are to increase their chances of making the Finals.

The JKL Lady Dolphins will face KPA in the semifinals but the two sides already met in the group stage.

As seen from the stat sheet, the first game was very close until the final 5 minutes where the Lady Dolphins lost all the concentration and giving away 19 points in the last 5 minutes. To make matters worse, the points were mostly from turnovers.

The lady Dolphins need to maintain their composure and concentration throughout the game, and they also need to limit foul trouble.

However, Brenda Ekone, Hope Akello and Becky Longom need to attack the rim as much as possible and if possible they get the “big men” of KPA into foul trouble early in the game.