With a potential playoff place at stake, survival places and relegation, the whole basketball community is closely watching the drama unfold and the biggest question is, who will survive?

The 2024 National Basketball League battle for relegation is already heating with 5 teams fighting, D-mark power, Livingstone, JKL Dolphins, Kampala Rockets and Ndejje Angels.

To close round one, the Kampala Rockets were in pole position for relegation having won just 1 game. However, the management went to work during the mid-season transfer window, and they acquired key pieces, Christian Ndibu from rivals Ndejje Angels and free agent Ruai Luak who was on the 2023 NBL Team of the season.

The Rockets have since turned a page with 5 wins in 6 second round games and the most important thing is the fact that they took care of business when facing the teams they are in the battle with, 65:55, 100:74 and 68:58 wins against Ndejje Angels, JKL Dolphins and Livingstone respectively. Their only loss was 67:77 against Power but they lacked the services of Christian Ndibu in that game.

Five-time Champions D-Mark Power faced a lot of trouble to start the second round with 6 consecutive losses, but they got redemption after defeating Kampala Rockets, a side which is also hanging on for survival.

Power has played the most games in round 2 with 9 and with 2 games left for them, every game is like a must win for them if they have hopes of surviving or even making the playoffs.

All their last 2 games are against teams in the bottom half teams Our Savior and Livingstone. Livingstone desperately need to win and so does Power. This makes the game very tough; they could go down to the wire but for Power, they need results.

Having won their game against Ndejje Angels, Livingstone got some relief, but they still have a lot of work to do in case they are to survive. They lost their player, Diopa Durocher to Namuwongo Blazers during the mid-season transfer window and the gap he left can’t be filled easily. Nevertheless, the 2023 Division one MVP Bismarck Okot Omoya has tried to carry his team and his 36-point game against the Ndejje Angels is just an example of what more he has top do for his team to survive.  Bruce Okullo has tried to step up but the entire cast has to be hands on deck for Livingstone.

They lost to the Kampala Rockets in a game that had very high stakes but there is a lot of hope for them given that they have more games left in round 2.

After their huge victory against Power to start the second round, the JKL Dolphins put themselves in situation where they will be having a lot of hope for survival in the league. Their victory against the Ndejje Angels also meant that they push the Angels further down from the main battle. However, their last 2 games against Our Savior and KCCA Panthers were the game changers.

Our Savior had defeated Ndejje Angels in the previous game week and they had seen off Livingstone in a 3-point game. Those wins were very important for JKL because they meant that Ndejje stays further down and that Livingstone stays within their proximity.

JKL Dolphins did themselves a favor and won against Our savior in overtime and that brought them to 5 wins tied with Power, Kampala Rockets and Livingstone. The Dolphins need to bring the same mentality that they brought against Our Savior and KCCA Panthers in their final 4 games of the season. 3 of the 4 teams they play are in the top half of the table and the games could be very tough.

Currently the Ndejje Angels are in grave, and they are praying for Miracle, perhaps a Lazarus moment. They have lost all their 8 games in round 2 in addition to losing their best player Christian Ndibu to opponents Kampala Rockets.

With 3 wins in 17 games, it is very hard seeing the Ndejje Angels surviving relegation having lost to all their close opponents, 65:55 to Kampala Rockets, 63:68 to Livingstone, 74:80 to JKL Dolphins and 69:72 to Power.

In their final 3 games of the season, they face teams in the top five including, UCU Canons, City Oilers and KCCA Panthers.  So many people have written off the Angels but with 5 games remaining, a lot can happen.

Context

Currently the Ndejje Angels and JKL Dolphins look like the teams that could get relegated given the difficulty in their remaining fixtures. The twist in all this is, the teams with similar records could lose their games and who knows, things could go down to the final game.

Second Round Statistics for the teams

The Kampala Rockets are the only team with a positive points difference and both their offense and defense are the best compared to the other 4 teams. It is no wonder they have now won 5 of 6 games.

They  have also by far picked the most rebounds and they also lead in steals, with the least number of turnovers.

The JKL Dolphins have  had the second-best offense but the defense has a few leakages. However, with their current trajectory, there is a possibility they get another victory though the remaining games are all against tough opponents.

Power had shown some positives offensively but the defense has been poor. However with 2 games to go, a lot is at stake and they need to pick victories else, they could find themselves in big trouble.

As things stand, it’s very difficult to see Ndejje Angels survive and the statistics indicate how poor they have been throughout the second round.

The JKL Dolphins have 6 wins but play Namuwongo Blazers, KIU Titans, JT Jaguars, and Livingstone in the remaining games. If they can pick up a victory against Livingstone, that could be enough for them to survive but Livingstone also is riding on that, they will come out fighting to the death.

Kampala Rockets faces KIU Titans, City Oilers, Nam Blazers, JT Jaguars, and Our Savior.  Can they win all their remaining games? If so, they will be booking a playoff spot but the opposition is very tough.

After losing to Kampala Rockets and Our Savior, Livingstone still has a chance as they face JKL Dolphins, UCU, Power, and City Oilers. A win against Power and JKL might mean they survive but facing UCU and City Oilers which both scored 90+ past them in round one will be very difficult games for them.

Power will approach their final 2 games of the season as their life depends on them. If they lose both, they will have lost control of their fate but as things stand, they have a big chance, more so if they win against Livingstone and JKL beats them too.