The BAL Sahara Conference
The final conference of the BAL, Sahara Conference, has come to an end in Senegal. All the teams are now set for the playoffs in Kigali. We round up the Sahara conference and look forward to the playoffs.
The Kalahari Conference consisted of the host team AS Douanes (Senegal), Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria), US Monastir (Tunisia) and APR (Rwanda). The conference was always going to be a very competitive one with very little separating the teams. The news of Cape Town Tigers qualifying for the playoffs meant that there was only one spot left between Bangui SC (CAR) and the 3rd placed team in the Sahara Conference.
The inaugural BAL champions, US Monastir, struggled to find their feet in the conference as they went down very quickly despite having a good team. They eventually managed to find their rhythm and booked their spot in the playoffs as the best 3rd place with a 3-3 record. They were powered strong performances by Chris Crawford. AS Douanes were enjoying the support from their home fans. The 2023 finalists acquired Adboulaye Harouna who is respected for his scoring ability and overall offensive prowess, and he showed this when he scored 35 points in a must-win game. Their highlight was Mike Fofana hit a game winner on the buzzer against Rivers Hoopers. The Senegalese outfit will proceed to the playoffs as 2nd placed in the conference after a 3-3 record. Rivers Hoopers made a return and made sure to let the continent know that they are contenders. The ended the conference with the best record after strong performances by Will Perry, Devine Eke, Peter Olisemeka and Kelvin Amayo. They clinched the playoffs with a 4-2 record. APR have missed out on a playoff spot but most importantly, an opportunity to play in front of their home fans in Kigali. Despite a strong start, the Rwandan team struggled to maintain that form as they lost 3 straight games leaving them with a 2-4 record. As if that was not enough, the team announced that their star guard, Adonis Filer, is to be sidelined for an extended period as he suffered an Achilles tear.
Kigali, the city of a thousand hills, will host the playoffs where the top 8 teams on the continent will compete for the coveted BAL trophy. The participating teams are:
• Al Ahly (Egypt)
• Al Ahly (Libya)
• FUS de Rabat (Morocco)
• Petro de Luanda (Angola)
• Cape Town Tigers (South Africa)
• Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria)
• AS Douanes (Senegal)
• US Monastir (Tunisia)
The playoffs will be in Kigali from 24 May to 1 June.
The NBA Playoffs
The NBA playoffs are in full swing in the conference semi-finals and many Afroballers took to the stage with their various teams. We round off this past week of the NBA Playoffs by highlighting the performances of some Afroballers.
The Indiana Pacers went down 0-2 in the series against the New York Knick. Pascal Siakam, Cameroonian, of the Indiana Pacers together with Aaron Nesmith (Nigerian mother) looked to bounce back in Indianapolis and even the series. They were successful in their quest as they defended their home court by winning games 3 and 4. Siakam averaged 18.2ppg and 6.5rpg whilst Nesmith averaged 8ppg and recorded a career high of 12 assists in a playoff game. Nigerian teammates, OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa, took to the court with New York Knicks where they went up 2-0 and then lost the two games on the road. Anunoby took a blow to his hip in game two and left the court in the 3rd quarter and has not played since. It was then ruled that his hip affected his hamstring. Before this, he was averaging 21ppg and 6.5rpg in the series and proved to be a great defender for New York. This unfortunate event gave Achiuwa an opportunity to play. During this time, he has averaged 7ppg and 6rpg since then.
Cleveland Cavaliers managed to win one game on the road in Boston to tie the series but then lost Game 3 at home. Senegalese guard, Georges Niang, and Nigerian guard, Isaac Okoro, will be looking to regain their form and feature even more in game 4 against the Celtic. Okoro who was averaging 11.5ppg in this series prior to his game 3 performance will be looking to bounce back while Niang will look to feature in game 4 after a DNP in game 3.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, who eliminated the Pelicans in a sweep feature guard, Lu Dort (Haiti), will look to even the series against the Dallas Mavericks. Dort, the defensive anchor, who has averaged 8ppg and 2spg will look to play a pivotal role in their quest to tie the series.
The NBA playoffs continue this week and the conference finals could start later in the week where our Afroballers will still feature.
