FIBA Africa Zone 6 Weekly Review: 20/08/2024

FIBA Africa Zone 6 Weekly Review: 20/08/2024

Namibia

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In the heart of the Namibian capital, Windhoek, there is a breath of fresh air with new basketball courts. First National Bank Namibia (FNB Namibia) has revamped the Augustinium Basketball courts which is the home of basketball in Namibia. This comes after the country has struggled to grow basketball. However, FNB Namibia has made a considerable financial and infrastructural investment that will allow the league to run this year. The league will include teams from all 12 regions and will be for both men and women. The basketball community in Namibia hopes that this will entice other investors to get involved. Season 2 of the FNB National 5on5 League is expected to tip off in December. However, the winner of this season will represent Namibia in the Road to BAL in 2025. Unam Rebels who are the reigning champions will represent Namibia at this year’s Road To BAL.

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South Africa

Basketball South Africa (South Africa's national federation) has approved the start of the national club championships which will run from August 20-23, at Mandeville Center in Johannesburg. However, this came with a lot of controversy as there was an article by ESPN that revealed that The Cape Town Tigers (reigning national champions)had violated certain BAL laws. This led to the team attempting to register as Joburg Tigers for the national club championships. Despite this strategic maneuver, the club was still not allowed to use this name, so they have gone in as TS Vikings.

This has caused some serious uproar as this contravenes the rules for any team that takes part in the tournament. It states that each team must be involved in their district league and then qualify for the provincial championship. If successful there, they will subsequently take part in the national club championship. As the reigning national champions, Cape Town Tigers were automatically in the national club championship, but the recent developments have changed that and the inclusion of TS Vikings in the championship without following due processes have left many teams unsatisfied. However, the country will have a new champion at the end of the week. MBB Blue Soldiers are favorites as they have acquired the talents of former Tigers captains, Lebesa Selepe and Pieter Prinsloo.

Despite the standstill between the Basketball National League (BNL) and Basketball South Africa (BSA), BNL continues to host a successful league with fixtures on a weekly basis that includes teams from all over the country. The games are held in Johannesburg and this weekend, the two national heavyweights taking on each other in a must-win game with playoff qualification on the line. Egoli Magic defeated Tshwane Suns 67-62. Limpopo Pride defeated the Free State Warriors 58-38. There was more action on Sunday where MBB Ladies defeated Soweto Panthers 54-37 and Soweto Panthers Men defeated Free State Warriors 51-48 in a tightly contested game that went down to the wire. There will be more action this weekend as the playoffs draw closer and games become more and more decisive.

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[ Imagery courtesy of Namibia Basketball, BSA and BNL]