Kalman blames training gaps as UON teams stumble in premier league

University of Nairobi (UON) basketball head coach Eugene Kalman has attributed his teams’ weekend losses in the Kenya Basketball Premier League (KNBL) to insufficient training.

UON Terror were terrorized 121-62 by defending champions Nairobi City Thunder in the men’s league, while UON Dynamites suffered a narrow 64-62 defeat to league newcomers Stanbic Aces in the women’s category.

“We have had some challenges in the last two to three weeks, we had just finished our exams. Plus the university is also closed technically so we haven’t been training well in the last two to three weeks,” stated Kalman.

“It is not an excuse why we played badly. We didn’t have a full squad but there are certain things that as a coach you look at in terms of growth. The results were a true reflection of what we did that day,” he added.

Kalman also vowed to build on the losses to improve their fortunes ahead of upcoming fixtures.

“We will use it as a benchmark because we had discussed transition offense and how to rotate but our people just forget. We didn’t execute well offensively but the main issue was defensive, we allowed Thunder to have about 19 threes and you can’t win in any game with such an error. It is something we are going to work on as we go back to the drawing board,” Kalman said.

On the women’s side, the coach emphasized the need for sharper execution and called on the bench players to step up and deliver when called upon.

“It was a game of many attempts so we need to improve our efficiency offensively and boost our bench power. The bench sometimes has too many players who are yet to pick up. It is our duty as technical bench to see if we can upgrade their skills and see how it goes.”

Despite the losses, the tactician believes his teams have all it takes to finish in good positions at the end of the regular season ahead of the playoffs.

“We have a break of some sort at least it will give us some time to regroup. It is not all lost as men still have six games while ladies have five towards the end of the regular season. There is a lot to play for in the second leg. We are really sorry for our fans for disappointing them but will do better next time,” he noted.

UON Terror have registered 6 wins and 10 losses from 16 matches, collecting 22 points in the men’s league, while UON Dynamites have also accumulated 22 points in the women’s premier league after 17 matches, with 5 wins and 12 losses.

Weekend Results

ANU Panthers 61-27 Storms – WP

Equity Hawks 72-43 The Swish – WP

Nairobi City Thunder 121-62 UON Terror – MP

Stanbic Shields 64-70 Equity Dumas – MP

Stanbic Aces 64-62 UON Dynamites – WP

ANU Wolfpacks 61-68 Ulinzi Warriors – MP

KPA 85-44 Safe Spaces – WP

Equity Hawks 63- 27 ANU Panthers – WP

ANU Panthers 27-63 Equity Hawks – WP

Equity Dumas 71-68 NBK Phoenix – MP