LIBYAN EXPERIENCE :PART 4
Shootaround : 20:00 - 21:00
Team did some shooting and scrimmaged in the half court reveiwing all the offences , then went full court working on offensive and defensive transition. There was a lot more energy from the players who looked better rested.
LIBYAN EXPERIENCE :PART 3
The teams journey began at 13:00 on the 2 August , which included a bus trip from Potchefstroom to JHB , a flight to Dubai , a further flight to Tripoli and then the teams first experience of Libyan organisation. From Tripoli the team were to get a connecting flight to Benghazi but upon arrival we were left sitting on the floor for 5 hours with no flight details and unsure of any plans. Finally a local official appeared with tickets and the team boarded the 18:00 flight to Benghazi. The team finally walked into their hotel rooms at the OUZO HOTEL at 22:00 after 33 hours of travel.
To be cont.......
LIBYAN EXPERIENCE : PART 2
Coach Gilchrist started by installing the 2-2-1 3/4 court press , with the type of players SA had at their disposal the coaches felt that it would be good to have a press in their defensive arsenal so it could be used to disrupt the offensive rythym of the teams that were just looking to dump the ball inside to their bigs.Coach Gilchrist then installed a 1-2-2 half court trap.Coach Ngwenya then went through our 2-3 zone concepts , this was then followed up by Coach Gilchrist installing some zone offences , 3 out 2 in , 4 out 1 in and the 2-3 low. The team then scrimmaged 5 on 5 on 5 reveiwing the mornings work.
Practice 16:00 - 1830
Coach Kita implemented 2 baseline plays - 42 up and 51 roll as well as SOB the sideline play.The team then scrimmaged reveiwing all the days work.
DAY 3
The fun started after the 8:00 Video session , when Neo Mothiba the team Captain approached the coaches informing them that BSA vice president Mike Ralethe had communicated to him that the players would not be receiving their daily allowances promised them of R500 per day before the team would leave for Libya.Neo Mothiba was also concerned that once the team left for Libya the players would never see that money , and there were feelings of discontent amongst the team. Coach Ngwenya then called the BSA president Francis Maleka to find out what was going on with regards the allowances. Mr. Maleka informed him that BSA had gotten the official documentation for the funding to LOTTO yesterday which was too late for LOTTO to deposit the money into BSA's account as LOTTO only make deposits on Fridays , but all was in order and BSA would receive the money the following Friday while the team was in Libya and then the players and coaches would receive their allowances.(Cheque is in the mail)
Practice 9:30 - 12:00
Practice started late as the bus came 30 minutes late.
Coach Ngwenya added another set "SHIRT"and Coach Kita added "POST WHEEL" and the team went straight into scrimmaging 5 on 5 on 5 reveiwing their Man to man defence and running all the sets.
The team then went 5 on 5 full court reveiwing the presses and Transition defence.Practice ended with a 25 minute plyometric session with a Sports Scientist.
On the drive back to the Hotel the team received word that they may not be leaving the following day as BSA had not paid for the tickets as the had no funds.
Shootaround : 14:00 - 15:30
The players asked for the afternoon off due to fatigue . Coach Kita and Gilchrist agreed to a light session of 600 jumpers each.
To be cont......
THE LIBYAN EXPERIENCE
Assistant coaches Gilchrist and Kita arrived at JHB International airport , 3 days late for camp due to work commitments , at 11:45am and after numerous sms's and phone calls were picked up at 13:15 by Tsepo Nyewe the BSA general seceratary.From there they took a 45 minute drive to Vereeniging to check the kit at the SEDGARS warehouse. The playing kit was probably made for an U14 soccer team as it was so small I doubt Nhlanhla Dlamini would have fitted into the XXXL. Tsepo Nyewe then drove them to his home where he could collect samples of adequately sized kit to give to SEDGARS so the kit could be remade.They finally left Vereeniging at 15:45 after pressing Tsepo that they needed to be at practice by 16:00 and it was still an hours drive to Potchefstroom.
They arrived late for practice. On arrival Coach Ngwenya was running 5 on 5 on 5 working on 3 of the sets he had installed - 1. WHEEL , 2.HORNS , 3.BOX (see COACHES CORNER for details). Coach Kita jumperd in straight away , stopping the practice and pointing out the poor defensive intensity
The increased defensive pressure resulted in poor spacing and shoddy setting and use of screens.Players were also unable to adjust to the defence cheating on the plays.
That evening the coaches met at supper and agreed to implement some ZONE DEFENCES , a PRESS at the following practice.They also met with 2 sports scientists from North West University to discuss the results of the teams fitness and strength testing (way below the norm of International standards) , the planning of future camps (LOL) and individual programs for playera to work on their specific physical weaknesses.
To be cont.......
THE DEATH OF KZN BASKETBALL
31 March 2009
This past weekend a bunch of friendly games were organised for some of the Teams in the Ethekwini area. On the Friday evening everything went smoothly with all the teams enjoying a game of basketball. Saturday morning tip off was supposed to be at 9:00am , 2 out of the 4 teams playing at 9:00am were there the others did not arrive or only arrived at 10:45am by which stage the games had been called off.
Where are we in basketball in Durban? When the younger players , do not have the discipline or commitment to arrive for a scheduled game of basketball , which should be a treasured event these days.Maybe they believe it is allright to arrive late for a game or they are arrogant enough to believe that people should wait for them. It makes no sense that for years the players have complained that the administrators have not organised anything for them and now that there was an event players just don't pitch or come late. Why should a league now be organised for these players ? They have no idea of what it takes to make KZN Basketball the powerhouse it used to be. At the moment KZN's reputation is riding on the coat tails of players who are over 30 years old and when they are done KZN's Basketball Power will become a distant memory unless the younger generation truly find the meaning of COMMITMENT , DISCIPLINE AND SACRIFICE.
A player should always want to play a game of basketball , regardless of who the fixture is against , and be at the venue at least 30 minutes before tip off , changed and ready to warm up 15 minutes before tip off , if a player does not have the commitment and self discipline to do this then .......................R.I.P. KZN BASKETBALL
BASKETBALL SOUTH AFRICA ELECTS NEW COMMITTEE
3 November 2008
The new B.S.A executive committee:
Mr. Malesela Maleka, President, Cell :082 226 1802 , Email : [email protected]
Dr. Malumbete Ralethe, 1st Vice President, Cell : 084 464 9717, Email : [email protected]
Ms. Ntombizanele Papa, 2nd Vice President, Cell : 082 328 5747, Email: [email protected]
Mr. Zanele Ngwenya, Treasure General, Cell : 082 335 7694, Email : [email protected]
Ms. Gezephi Mbatha, SASB Representative, Cell: 076 832 4363, Email : [email protected]
Ms. Xoliswa Ntombela, USSA Basketball Representative, Cell : 073 5214596, Email : [email protected] / [email protected]
Mr. Willie Riechert, WBSA Representative, Cell : 082 340 3011, Email: [email protected]
Mr. Caby Cabanelas, PBL Representative, Cell : 082 802 5824, Email : [email protected]
Mr. Dumisani Tuka, Board Member, Cell : 072 536 5595, Email : [email protected]
Mr. Dali Dzingwa, Board Member, Tel : 011 974 1999, Cell: 079 0911 652, Email: [email protected]
Mr. Joe Machaba, Board Member, Cell : 073 187 8944, Email : [email protected]
Mr. Monwabisi Planga, Board Member, Cell : 072 509 8291, Email: [email protected]
Mr. Mosotho Kgaka, Board Member, Cell : 082 464 1178, Email : [email protected]
Mr. Tsepo Nyewe, National Administrator, Cell: 082 358 6952, Email : [email protected]
EX Officio Member, Fax : 086 696 2969, Email : [email protected]
We wish them all the best in trying to rebuild the mess that is South African Basketball.
KZN VETS FALL IN THE FINALS
31 October 2008
KZN Veterans Association had 17 players turn out for the SA Masters games this year , so it was decided to split into 2 teams named the 'Whalesharks' and 'Team Walrus'. Team Walrus made the finals only to lose to Vaal Tech Alumni 46 - 43 in a close and exciting encounter. Pictured left is Team Walrus.
DUMISANI GEBASHE REPRESENTS KZN AT THE BWB
12 September 2008
Dumisani Gebashe represented KZN at the NBA's Basketball Without Borders this past week , where Africa's top 100 U19 players are brought together by The NBA for a camp where they can be scouted by College Programmes from the USA. Dumisani excelled in being selected for the final All Star Game of the camp.
GAUTENG BEAT SMU MUSTANGS TOURING SQUAD
2 June 2008
A Gauteng selection team beat the touring Southern Methodist University team yesterday afternoon. The Mustangs are a fairly small division 1 school with 11 000 students. This however is a noteable achievement by the Gauteng team as no SA team has beaten a touring US college team before. Gauteng are again making the statement that they have become the dominant province in SA basketball with KZN fast falling behind with no leagues running or coaches supporting the local clubs.
KZN VETERANS IN MOZAMBIQUE
16 May 2008
A makeshift KZN vets team participated in a tournament in Mozambique earlier this month. A last minute decision was made to put a team together to travel to Maputo to participate in TIMBA's annual tournament which has 30-39 , 40-49 and 50+ age groups for men and women. On day one the KZN side made a succesful start to the tournament beating AMIGOS DE BASQUETBOL from Mozambique(the eventual champs) 41-40 and the WHITE EAGLES who are made up of Serbian ex-pats living in South Africa 39-36. However on day 2 disaster struck with Craig Gilchrist going down with food poisening , Simon Draycot tearing his bicep muscle and Richard Andriesson withdrawing due to fatigue forcing the KZN Vets to withdraw from the tournament having to default the games on day two. Next year more planning and organisation will go into preparing for the tournament so the veterans can fly the KZN flag high.
Veterans basketball is the only body in South Africa which seems to be thriving with veteran players able to look forward to at least 2 tournaments a year. That is 2 more tournaments than any other player in South Africa has to look forward to. Hopefully the new BSA can rectify this problem.
SA WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL WINS INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT
The SA wheelchair basketball team won its first international tournament in Belgium over the weekend , when they defeated France 63 - 60 in the final.
The able bodied association could take a page out of the wheelchair book with regards to the development of the their national team. Wheelchair also began as minnows on the international front , but through development of their players in the National Supersport League and constant participation in International competition they have now become a force to be reckoned with on the international front. Unlike their able bodied counterparts who have no National league to develop players in and only participate in International competition every two years in the African Championships.
Time for Baketball South Africa to shape up or ship out. Let somebody who knows and loves the game of basketball take over and drive this country to where it should be in the world of basketball. Enough of the politicians please
EX-DHS PLAYERS REPRESENTING AFRICA IN THE STATES
5 February 2008
Given Kalpinde and Sakhile Sithole(pictured left) who left DHS last year to further their baketball in the United States at EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL , have been holding it down. Here is an e-mail received from their coach:
“Our team has come a long way since Myke and Jamal last saw us play. We have come together as a team, and the kids are working very hard to play well together and share the basketball. Given has hit his stride on the court. I believe the Washington, DC area is now seeing the gift that Given has, just as each of you saw it in Africa. He has been tremendous. We have won three tough conference games in a row, and in that stretch he has scored 17, 34 and 27. I know that you guys think this is normal scoring for him, but he did this against some high level players! He has also been filling up the stat sheet with rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. It is special to watch him play, and he has also begun to be a leader on the court and he gets along well with his teammates. Yao has also played well, but he has not hit his stride offensively quite yet. The good news is that he is getting good shots, and he is making good moves, he just needs to get comfortable scoring in a fast-paced game. He has sprained an ankle a couple of times this year, and this has caused some issues with his "lift" and his conditioning. But he works hard with the athletic trainer, and he has not missed a game this season. He has shown some flashes of real talent, and he did shut down an all-conference guard from Bullis who has signed at Lafayette University. I am taking them both to the George Mason vs. James Madison basketball game today, and both schools are recruiting the guys.”
http://www.dcsportsfan.com/article.aspx?aid=1721
DISAPOINTING DEVELOPMENTS IN NATIONAL TEAM
15 November 2007
The National Team coach Mr. Floshem Ngwenya is at loggerheads with Basketball South Africa with regards his salary.Mr. Ngwenya led South Africa in the All Africa games and the All African Championships to dissapointing results , especially at the olympic qualifiers in Angola(All African Championships) where South Africa was drawn in the weakest group with Tunisia , Cameroon and Mozambique where South Africa never won a single pool game. Mr. Ngwenya has turned down the R160 000,00 BSA have paid him for his 7 months work from January this year , claiming he was in the process of negotiating a three year deal at R35 000 per month. Upon his dismissal Mr. Ngwenya has approached the Department of Sport and Recreation to investigate Basketball South Africa , claiming that over the past 9 nine years of Mr. Vusi Ngobozi's presidency Basketball in South Africa has regressed instead of grown and in fact is in a state of dissaray.Mr. Ngwenya may not be far off with these allogations as can be seen in the lack of tournaments and events organised for senior players. Hopefully something positive will come out of these events.
