MyBasketball

There was a funny undertone to the final day of the USSA with the UJ teams feeling like this was their time for some silverware and VUT wanting to claim the title back for the ladies while the guys were trying to defend their 2008 title. I still remember that after last years game in Cape Town, Thabang Kwedi a Vaal player had gone to the UJ coach, Simon Badibanga and said “You will never beat VUT as long as I am playing” so you could feel the tension around the court.

University of Johannesburg vs. Vaal University of Technology – Ladies

VUT started like a house on fire with great inside play from the ladies from Zimbabwe (VUT 4, 14 and 15) and UJ started small to everyone’s surprise in the stands. This played into VUT hands and they had a 10 point run in the first 5 minutes. With 2 minutes left, VUT coach-Zanele Ngwenya took out his starting 5 and played his second unit, which enabled UJ to get back in the game. In hindsight, this looked like a very bad move from VUT coach, Zanele Ngwenya but after looking at the overall game, this move led to UJs key players picking up fouls against the 2^nd unit and the VUT starting 5 had enough rest for the rest of the game which helped them wrap things up in the fourth. After speaking to Zanele Ngwenya after the game on his overall thoughts on the game, he said: “I outsmarted the UJ coaches”. Read the rest of this entry →

University of Johannesburg vs. University of Western Cape – Men

UJ started like a house on fire and scored 10 unanswered points. Their counterparts UWC couldn’t match their speed and quick transition and when UJ were not running they were running their sets. Given their advantage in height UJ were always going to be a handful. UWC were playing a 2-3 zone defence but somehow it was leaking when the ball movement became too much. The UWC guards (9 and 7) were probably the best combination of the tournament and they were causing problems for the joburg team as soon as they got their game going. They were shooting well from beyond the arc but UJ 7 was also having a great shooting game. At half time the score was 44 – 27 in favour of UJ. Read the rest of this entry →

Sport is a funny business… After beating the University of Johannesburg the day before, Wits ladies were defeated by the University of Limpopo in another upset. Wits Ladies might have underestimated their opponents or just simply psyched themselves out of the match by thinking that the tournament was done after beating their rivals UJ. The girls looked tired while the University of Limpopo were doing plenty of lay ups and great defense by denying Wits easy baskets throughout the game. They showed great heart and the huge crowd spurring them on helped them withstand any run that Wits was trying to make in the 4^th quarter. Wits lost by 10 points to a team that UJ had trashed the day before, it was total disbelief for the coaches.

Before all that took place, Wits men were about to cause another upset by leading Vaal University of Technology (VUT) for 3 quarters until Thabang Kwedi (VUT) made a “Paul Pierce” entrance in the game and took the game away in the last 6 minutes. In other male games, the University of Johannesburg (UJ) defeated the hosts Tuks by 23 points in what seemed like a formality. They really look like champions elect, let’s hope they don’t underestimate any opposition and continue playing in the composed manner. They are en route to meet VUT in the final if they keep up their winning streak.

In a match that would decide who would go to the finals, CUT men played CPUT and at half time CPUT were up making them the strong favourites to play VUT in the semis. In the other semis it looks like UJ will end up playing UWC.

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Some pictures from the USSAs TUKS vs. CUT game:

What a day of upsets and drama…Before I mention the basketball, it seems that USSA and SABC Slamdunk have reached an agreement and the cameras have started rolling again on day 2. The fans came in drips and drabs but they had good entertainment throughout with some key battles.

Ok straight to the dramatic games that produced exciting results. The hosts, The University of Pretoria (TUKS), lost both their games with the men’s team losing to last second free throws from Cape University of Technology (CPUT) guard Vincent Ntunja, while the ladies went down to Vaal University of Technology (VUT) in a match that was won in the first half. Tuks men had an 11 point lead and blew it in the last 2 minutes to lose the game on turnovers, bad calls and good shooting from CPUT guards. VUT ladies made their statement early against the defending champions by going on a run early on and in the end Tuks couldn’t catch up. The match was littered with plenty of mistakes and turnovers from the host but credit must be given to VUT who played great defense throughout. They hurried Tuks into mistakes and their PG controlled the game with some great decisions. Read the rest of this entry →

With the start of the 2009 USSA tournament marred by the news of a road accident suffered by the Rhodes Ladies team on their way to Pretoria, shock and disbelief was the order of the day amongst some of the participants. There were no fatalities to the players but some of them ended up in hospital with serious injuries and bruises. Their subsequent withdrawal from the event left the organisers with plenty of rescheduling to do.

The CUT ladies team also had some tragic news to deal with following the passing of one of their teammates last week but they managed to make the trip and honour her memory.

Despite all the sad news, the event was officially opened by the USSA executive with all the teams and officials gathered at the LC de Villiers indoor in the afternoon of the first day. There was an interesting twist to the days proceedings with the SABC Slam dunk and Supersport refused permission to film the USSA without proper accreditation and procedures followed…

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