SHOOT AROUND: It’s been a while since I’ve sat down to jot about the game that I love to live for. Many things have happened and since then, I’ve continued to keep my eyes on the game and meeting like minded guys who also love to engage about the game. In this, I would like to send a shout out to the crazy bunch in the AWBOWhut group, unfortunately membership is purely by invite and the mogul is fortunate enough to catch a lot of insight from some of the vets in there. Continue reading »
Apr 23
SA team journeys into the lions den
Basketball Diaries
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The first 4 days of the SA men national team trip for the qualifiers to the African Championship are covered as word documents that you can download and read. The last day amd last game is described in depth by Kimathi.
SA vs Mozambique (Game 2)
Day before the Final game
We went out to watch the Zimbabwe vs Mozambique game. It was pretty clear that this game was just a game played because they had to…I for one was hoping that Zim could spring a surprise so that we wouldn’t have to worry about Moz anymore because they would’ve have lost 2 games. The game was very boring as Zim played Zone almost the whole first half.Seeing that we wanted to scout the Moz plays etc, Zim were killing us cos there is no way that we were going to play zone AGAIN.
Eventually Zim played their Man Defense and by that time I was almost asleep, the only thing keeping me awake was the difficulty that Moz had with breaking the zone. Moz won the game but you could see that they were not happy and thus ADVANTAGE SA.
Mind Games Continue reading »
Apr 02
On Sunday 29th March 2009, Alice Seipati Direko, a current Central University of Technology – Free State (CUT) player away in the morning. She will be buried on the 4th of April 2009 at her home town of Welkom. May her soul rest in peace.
Article by Victor Shakineza
Mar 15
From Africa to Alexandria (USA)
Basketball Diaries
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The stars of Episcopal boy’s basketball team have been on a remarkable journey together.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Living about 8,000 miles away from home, it’s hard to believe Episcopal’s Given Kalipinde and Yao Sithole say they don’t miss home all that much.
Then again, watching them comfortably answer a reporter’s questions over the din of teammates teasing them about the game that just ended, girlfriends, weird looking clothes, and whatever else teenagers think is worthy of postgame fodder – all while the senior duo suppresses their own laughter – could be enough proof for their claim.
“The team doesn’t look at us as outsiders, they just look at us as one of the guys,” said Sithole, a 6-foot-5 forward from South Africa. “They joke around a lot, but they’re great guys.”
Mar 07
Right now in my life, I think I have 3 of the best jobs in the world. My first job is loving and living basketball enough that I can put a few words together that not only entertain, but hopefully educates certain people about the game. My other job is being part of a group of people that are about to break a few rules with a website that’s combining the best of both worlds; HipHop and basketball (www.magenge.co.za). My other job, which I hold dearest to my heart, is being the best father to the most adorable daughter in the world.
With a lot of things in the world not going so well, I think that it is always important for each of us to strive to make ourselves and those around us better people. Time waits for no man and as a wise man (Common) once said, nobody speaks truth better than time itself because you can never rewind it. My truth, as I sit here grinding, is that the time has finally come for basketball to take its place as “The Game of Life”. For some, Barack Obama might finally be a good reason for them to finally seek knowledge about basketball, those were my sentiments on Sunday as I was reading City Press and seeing a picture of the man balling. This, a day after the president attended an NBA game between his hometown Chicago Bulls against the Washington Wizards, the game can only grow stronger across the world. Maybe this also spells more acknowledgement and respect for our involvement in the game over the years.
Feb 28
The title is exactly what the whole team is centered around: RUNNING. Whether is making a liner in 33second, a down an back in 12 after every water break or doing the Mc Donalds (20min.) or 7 eleven (15 min.) runs, the renegades run. Now the later would be ok if it weren’t for the simple fact that Ohlone College is built on a really big hill.
Feb 16
Despite the extremely warm weather and scorching heat, we managed to survive a few weeks in Potchefstroom, where the University of the North West played hospitality to all the teams and officials needs.
There were six codes of sport featured at the event including football, netball, tennis, swimming, athletics and basketball. Ten Southern African countries competed in the event, which was last held two years ago in Namibia, these are South Africa (host), Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Angola and Malawi.
I was in Potch with Fresh and Tsitso, two regular referees in the LOP and GBL leagues, that were technical officials at the games. The whole tournament was organised quite well with accommodation, meals and transport being a breeze. The basketball camp of Volunteers and Officials consisted mainly of the North West basketball team, men and women. Thabo Letsebe and Clive (North West men coach), were also among the residents at Kom en Gaan. Continue reading »
Jan 04
Thato Mabudusha is currently studying at Pretoria High School for Girls where she is the Head Girl for 2009. Her interest in basketball goes a long way back and her passion for the game is still as strong as ever.
While holidaying in the Midwest city of Racine, Wisconsin; where I did my primary school from 2000 to 2003, I went to watch a few high school games while visiting old friends. Racine is a small city about an hour and a half away from Chicago and is located on the shore of Lake Michigan.
I was there for 3 weeks during the december 2008 holidays and watched basketball games at different schools, both private and public, and although the private schools have larger and more aesthetically pleasing gymnasiums (or fieldhouses as they are more commonly known), all schools have one thing in common: multiple indoor courts and usually no outdoor courts. This is because basketball is a winter sport and seeing as it snows throughout winter in Racine, basketball is always played indoors. The number of courts available in the indoor gymnasium range from one to six (at the larger schools).
