On Wednesday 18th, the JKL Lady Dolphins lost their third game of the season after falling to the UCU Lady Canons 71-67 at the Lugogo Indoor Arena.

However, one thing which caught the attention of the many was the unavailability of their point guard, Evelyne Nakiyingi.

Word has it that she has had a falling out with the team and there are a lot of theories as to why.

The truth of the matter is that this did not start on the Wednesday game, but the one over the previous weekend, against the Miracle Eaglets.

It is said that she showed up for the game but was informed that she would not be partaking for one reason or another.

Word has it that Evelyne did not take this news lightly and was not happy about it.

Despite Nakiyingi not featuring, the JKL Lady Dolphins went on to win the game 63-53 but her issue was not resolved.

According to an internal source, she got a falling out with the team and they are currently at a standstill.

The question is, Can JKL win the Championship without her?

We are not aware of the gravity of the situation but time and time again, we have seen players and teams fall out because of things which have accumulated overtime.

Whether Evelyne returns or not, we shall be waiting to see, but the Lady Dolphins need to have a plan in case she’s absent.

In the loss to the UCU Lady Canons, you could tell that JKL seriously missed her services.

She’s a person who controls their offense, facilitates for others and scores a lot for them.

Without her, Ruth Letaru will most likely become their starting point guard and she’s a completely different kind of player.

Letaru is a very good defensive asset but she struggles to score the basketball.

Even the speed with which she plays at is not the same as that of Evelyne which means JKL have to change the way they play.

Some people suggest that maybe Agatha Kamwada should point the ball but this is a role she hasn’t done before.

Secondly if she takes over that role, you’ll have cut her out as a threat from the 3-point line.

Most of her shots are created for her and if she’s on the ball, it’s very hard for her to create for her self or even make off the dribble shots.

Some other people suggested that Zainah Lokwameri should point the ball.

Well, just like Agatha’s case, I don’t think Zainah can point the ball for more than 20 minutes more so if pressure is being applied from the full court.

In the half court, she has the IQ and very good game reading but you can’t expect her to play for you 30+ minutes game in game out.

In this analogy, we shall not discuss about Flavia Oketcho who can be alternative but she plays a couple of games here and there.

She’s a person that has other things to do and plays only when she’s available.

Plus, the gap (in terms of output) between her and Evelyne, at this point in time, is alot.

As you can see from above, the Lady Dolphins will have a big hole to fill if Evelyne is out and so far, there hasn’t been a solution that we all think could work seamlessly.

In the game game against UCU, we saw Hope Akello drive the basketball a lot and also shooting from distance.

Despite scoring 31 points, UCU took her out of her comfort zone, the post, and her threat in the interior was cut off.

After being impressive in the last couple of games, we thought that Shadia Nassanga could  help out on the offensive and defensive load but her performance was a reminder that she’s still young in the game.

That means you can’t rely on her as much as you’d want to but will surely be impactful.

The Lady Dolphins have 2 things to be happy about and one of them is the return of Becky Longom.

Longom has been out for most of the season but she is soon to be cleared

When she returns, she can probably be a threat in the interior while Hope Akello tries the 3 ball and drives.

Also this can give room for Hope to play more on the ball and try to facilitate for others, a thing which we know she can do.

However, we are not sure how much productivity Longom can give you after being out for all this time.

The second thing that JKL should be happy about is the extension of the transfer window to 30th.

The Lady Dolphins have a chance to add a point guard to their roster.

Also, players like Jane Asinde and Zama are already on their roster so they can feature for them.

Can JKL win without Evelyne, the answer is yes but if their chance was at 50%, it will drop to 25% without her.

This is because the Lady Dolphins will have to tweak a lot of things and you can’t be very sure that they’ll work for 4 games in a finals series against a team like KCCA, JT or UCU.