The Uganda Silverbacks put up a hell of a performance in the final quarter coming from down 20 to within 5 at the Final whistle against Cape Verde in their opening fixture at the Afrobasket Qualifiers in Tunisia.

The Silverbacks had good and bad spells during the game but 2 good moments stood out, the last 3 minutes of the first half and the final 4 minutes of the fourth quarter.

Talking points

Belief

Despite the the boys losing the game, they exhibited a lot of resilience and belief in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

They scored 22 points in the final 4:19 minutes of the game, Robinson Opong scoring 12 of those and Adama Seiko 8.

Even though the game was a bit out of reach at that time, they fact that they fought hard till the end is a positive and hopefully they carry that momentum and mindset forward in their next game against Nigeria.

This belief was also shown at the end of the second quarter when they made a 12-3 run to close the half with big momentum.

Size/Dominance in the Paint

This has been a very big problem for Uganda for a very long time and despite Brandon Sebirumbi putting on a good performance, the bench did not help much.

Brandon found himself in foul trouble and this was a very big problem for Uganda. Titus Odeke and James Okello, who ordinarily would be the next sources of points in the interior had a very poor game. The 2 had a combined for 1 point and 2 rebounds in almost 22 minutes.

Brandon also had a 5 +/- while James (-13) and Titus (-9) which clearly shows how the 2 underperformed while on the floor.

Cape Verde had far more offensive rebounds in the first half,

Decision making

During the fourth quarter, the Silverbacks had a couple of opportunities on the fast break to make easy layups but they opted for the 3-point shots which unfortunately did not go in.

Making an easy 2 or opting for a 3, which would you take? 3 point shots are good more so when trying to slice through a deficit but in case they don’t fall, one starts regretting the missed easy points and that was the case for Uganda.

During the first half, the team also passed up very many opportunities from the midrange and opted to attack the rim.

The 3-point shot

The Silverbacks shot from the 3 point line far better than Cape Verde.

Adam Seiko (4), Robinson Opong (4) and Tony Drileba were hot from distance and this helped Uganda a lot.

Fayed Baale was 0/4 while Ivan Muhwezi was 0/2 but despite their bad games, the 3 point shot comes easy for them and once they get in their zone, they cam be a problem.

Uganda to look to utilize that avenue more and if Fayed and Muhwezi can rise up, it will be trouble for the opponents.

Match Stats

Robinson Opong 25 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl

Tonny Drileba 11 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl

Adam Seiko 16 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast

Brandon Sebirumbi 11 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast

The Silverbacks take on Nigeria on Saturday and given Nigeria’s late arrival and slight disorganization, this could be looked at as an opportunity to gwt an easy win.