Ocholla bullish KPA will strike back at Thunder in basketball league finals playoff

Despite losing Game One and Two of the Kenya National Basketball Men’s Premier League (KNBL) final playoffs at home in Mombasa, defending champions Kenya Ports Authority assistant head coach Samuel Ocholla believes the boys gave their all.

KPA lost Game One 70-73 on Saturday to Nairobi City Thunder, before losing Game Two 50-59 on Sunday, as the series head to Nairobi for the remaining three games.

Thunder are looking for one win while KPA have to win all the remaining three games to defend the title.

“Actually both games we played very well. On Saturday, we played pretty well, by halftime we were leading by 16 points but at some point inexperience came and kicked in. We had an overhaul of the team at the start of the season, and more than half of these players haven’t been at such level before and this was their first time to play a final,” noted Ocholla.

“I think after we got the lead, they became overconfident and it got into them and instead of playing the clock, they started playing scores on the scoreboard which eventually cost us a lot,” added Ocholla, a former KPA captain.

Ocholla also rued their chances in the third quarter of their Game One match.

“We missed a lot especially in the third quarter where we had a very bad quarter on Saturday. We were missing a lot of shots, making turnovers which they used to punish us, and that’s where Thunder thrived as they came, tied and went up with three points at the end of the game,” said Ocholla.

In Sunday’s game which they lost by nine points, Ocholla noted that his charges lacked consistency.

“For Game Two we started well, we were down at some point, came back tied the game went up again but at some point our point guard was out of energy. We were forced to play with one point guard who is not a natural one, but we had to convert him into one after two of our main point guards got injured during the regular season,” he explained.

Ocholla has applauded the players for shocking many to reach where they are this season, saying that many did not expect them to qualify for the final despite being the defending champions.

“Overall, the boys played well, I am really proud of them and how far they have reached. Many doubted us that we will not make it to the final but here we are in the final and we are giving Thunder a run for their money,” he said.

“We now shift camp and focus to Nairobi matches this week and we see how it goes. We will approach Game Three on Saturday with a killer mentality, and we will give our all and fight to the end so expect a great and a good match.”

Thunder, who are on the verge of dethroning KPA as league champions, lead the five-game series 2-0 and will be hoping to close the business on Saturday night when they host the Mombasa-based side at Nyayo Gymnasium in Game Three, and avoid Game Four and Five on Sunday and Monday respectively.