There’s is an old saying that goes, “you play with fire, you get burned” and for the last 3 games, the Namuwongo Blazers have been flirting around with a loss.

In all the 3 games, they trailed at the halftime break but somehow managed to comeback and win, all the games finishing within 5 points.

No one is implying that a victory is not the priority, but for a team like the Nam Blazers, who claim their goal is to win the league and represent at Uganda at BAL, the manner in which you win is very important.

To close round 1, the Blazers registered back-to-back losses against UCU Canons and Power and everyone knew that major changes were expected during the mid-season transfer window.  They got rid of Soro Geoffrey and Nasser Guddi and acquired the services of Diopa Durocher from Livingstone and Arthur Wanyoto from JKL Dolphins, the 2 averaged double-doubles in round one and they were the most important pieces for their teams.

In the games the 2 have played so far, Arthur Wanyoto averages 13:20 minutes, 4.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 0.25 assists, 0 blocks and 0.25 steals.

Diopa averages, 4.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0 blocks and 0.33 steals in 11:29 minutes.

As from the above stats, the 2 new  signings are part of the reasons why the Blazers aren’t blowing out teams, we all know what they are capable of but the gelling into the team takes a bit of time.

Rotations

The Blazers have a lot of “big bodies” on their roster currently and the coach has a very big task of figuring out the right combinations before the playoffs reach.

The 2 new signings are all big-bodied players who prefer to finish at the rim but the Blazers also have Michael Makiadi, Joseph Chuma and Chuol Nyuot who has taken his game to a whole new level in the last few games. He has earned himself 2 starts in the four second round games and has played 30+ minutes in 2 different games. This shows that the coach trusts him and he has rewarded the coach’s trust with results

With all this, it makes the coach’s position far more difficult, whom will he trust when the big games come around. One thing that you don’t want is to have a disjointed squad since most of them want to play and they all believe they have earned the right to have heavy minutes, how will the coach resolve that?

Inconsistency

Most of the Blazers players have been up and down in the first games of the second round. The coach’s experiments have also just added fuel to the fire but one believes the entire team (individually) needs to do better.

Paul Odong, Innocent Ochera, Daniel Gaaki have all had one or 2 good games but they disappear in the others. At this point, no one is sure what to expect from those players before the game starts, that’s how bad it is.

The Blazers have a lot of adjustments to make and issues to address, these are just some of the prolific ones but we all know what they are capable of and their fans are longing to see that.

With the way teams are playing in the second round, the Blazers have to make adjustments very fast, otherwise a loss could be  coming their way soon.

Kampala Rockets is playing like a top 4 team, Power, Livingstone and Ndejje Angels were all very desperate to win and you could see the effort and mentality they brought against the Blazers. JKL Dolphins is also very desperate for a win to ease on the relegation scare, KIU Titans is desperate to take down a big boy, the City Oilers want revenge, the UCU Canons want to completea double, Our Savior is longing for a victory, KCCA Panthers is also trying to get a top 4 finish, so every game is like a final and if you’re caught lurking, you might not know what hit you.

The bigger picture for the Namuwongo Blazers is the playoffs and if they can figure out the right rotations, adjustments, combinations, they have all the personnel they need to win the title but first, they have to figure themselves out.

Not related

The Namuwongo Blazers have a potential new addition to their squad, in the point guard position.