South Sudan Basketball Federation

08/22/2017

🏀AfroBasket 2017 Competition - Stay Tuned🏀

KAMPALA (FIBA AfroBasket 2017) - Uganda head coach Mandy Juruni has announced a 13-man preliminary list ahead of preparations for the FIBA AfroBasket 2017 set for September 8-16 in Senegal and Tunisia.

The Silverbacks will camp in the Egyptian city of Alexandria for a fortnight from August 23-September 6 and are scheduled to play three friendly games against local sides as they prepare for their second appearance at Africa's premier basketball showdown.

" Our target is to get out of the group stages and go to Tunis and from there we will see what happens." - Juruni
Juruni has maintained his captain Stephen Omony as well as the dependable Stanley Ocitti whose resounding statistics at the 2015 edition were a positive note for Uganda who were making their debut.

Shooting guard Robinson Odoch Opong headlines the foreign-based contingent along with A'darius Pegues who featured at the Zone 5 Qualifiers in Cairo as well as youngster Samuel Kalwanyi who features for Wayland Baptist University in Texas, USA.

Jonathan Egau
Jimmy Enabu
Samuel Kalwanyi
Ben Komakech
Stanley Mugerwa
Stanley Ocitti Ochaya
Stephen Omony
Robinson Odoch Opong
Jonah Otim
Joseph Ikong Anyuru
Syrus Kiviiri
James Okello
A'darius Pegues

In an exclusive interview with FIBA.basketball, Juruni said, "We have a good working relationship with some agents over there who organize for us friendly games and good facilities for us to prepare well."Juruni showed confidence in the inclusion of Opong and said that he will bring experience and competition to the team. "He is a good perimeter player with all options."

Uganda finished 15th in Tunisia two years ago and according to Juruni, the Silverbacks are targeting to win more games at this year's edition and better their 1-4 win ratio.

"Preparations are key to having a good tournament. This time round, all teams are well prepared so having a good camp will help us have a good tournament. Our target is to get out of the group stages and go to Tunis and from there we will see what happens," Juruni told FIBA.basketball

Uganda was drawn in Group A along with 11-time record winners Angola, Morocco and Central African Republic.

FIBA

08/05/2017

FIBA AfroBasket 2017 Competition

What does the FIBA AfroBasket 2017 draw say?

Senegal rank among favorites to win FIBA AfroBasket 2017
SHEFFIELD (Julio Chitunda's African Message) - Sixteen African teams have been drawn into four groups of four to do battle for the ultimate goal of winning the FIBA AfroBasket 2017 in Dakar and Tunis from September 8-16.

But what exactly does the FIBA AfroBasket 2017 draw say?

Realistically speaking, Africa's highest ranked countries - Nigeria, Tunisia, Angola and Senegal - are expected to reach the Quarter-Finals. They aren't top-ranked teams by accident, they have better players and are experienced enough to raise when it matters most.

So one of those four teams will win the FIBA AfroBasket 2017.

Nigeria have quality players, a skilled coaching staff and are keen to dominate African basketball in years to come. So they are unquestionably favorites to top Group A, which includes DR Congo, Mali and Cote d'Ivoire.

Nevertheless, Nigeria currently face some serious issues.

As I write this column, it remains to be decided who runs the country's basketball federation as two sets of elections have been held by two different groups in two Nigerian cities.

Remember when Nigeria announced they would play top-ranked teams in the build-up to the AfroBasket 2017?

Well, this uncertainty might jeopardize the team's preparations.

The sooner the Nigeria Olympic Committee decides who legitimately runs the sport in the country, the bigger chances Nigeria have to prepare their continental title defense.

But how about the FIBA AfroBasket 2017 outsiders? Can they make some noise this summer?

In an African tournament that will, for the first time, be hosted by two countries - Senegal and Tunisia - something extraordinary is expected from the so-called small teams.

Ugandans have become a dominant force in East Africa

Looking into what happened during the qualifiers, it's fair to say Guinea, DR Congo and Uganda seem prepared to write a new chapter in the history of the competition.

Why and how? Basketball in Africa is changing for good. Teams start to realize that taking the African Championship seriously and attracting skilled players as well as a knowledgeable coaching staff are key factors to develop the sport back home.

Who would have thought that Guinea would beat Senegal and get the better of Mali in Mali during the qualifiers? Who would have predicted that Uganda would reach the Finals for the second time in a row and become the powerhouse in the East Africa region? Ten years on since last playing in the competition and the DR Congo are back in the 16-team field after edging out former African Champions the Central African Republic in the qualifiers.

In a recent interview with FIBA.basketball, Uganda's Stanley Ocitti reaffirmed that they "will surprise a lot of people this time round. We have learned from the last time."

The DR Congo coach Charly Buzangu told me a few days ago: "We are going to play one game at a time as we aim to build a strong team. It’s going to be a tough pool for us, but we’ll make sure to build a solid and competitive team which represents our country the best way possible."

Let the battle begin.

Julio Chitunda

FIBA

06/27/2017

✨FIBA Celebrated 🏀85th🏀 Anniversary ✨

celebrates 85th anniversary

June 18 1932 that the Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur (FIBA) came into being, consisting of eight founding members - Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland. Together they formed the first fully independent and autonomous world governing body of basketball.

Two years later, FIBA was officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Fast-foward to the present day and FIBA now is made up of 213 National Member Federations from all four corners of the globe.

1932: FIBA is founded in Geneva, Switzerland
1936: Basketball becomes an Olympic sport in Berlin
1950: First FIBA Basketball World Cup staged in Buenos Aires, Argentina
1953: First FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in Santiago, Chile
1976: First Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament at Montreal Olympics
2013: House of Basketball is inaugurated in Mies, Switzerland
2015: On 1 January, FIBA becomes ONE FIBA with Regional Offices in five continents - Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania
2016: FIBA counts 213 National Member Federations
2017: 3x3, FIBA's urban discipline, is included as part of the Olympic Basketball program, starting with the Tokyo 2020 Games

06/21/2017

Draft Prospect, Peter Jok - Dreams become a reality "From South Sudan to Iowa to NBA," TOMORROW on ESPN!

The best shooting guard in the 2017 NBA Draft

04/06/2017

♦️Today is an International Day of Sports 🏀🏀🏀for Development and Peace♦️

JUBA (FIBA AfroBasket 2017) – Six years old this July 9, the newest nation in the world South Sudan like many African nations was born of a fight for dignity and against oppression.

03/14/2017

‼️Watch Team 🇸🇸🇸🇸South Sudan LIVE ‼️

ON Sport HD Live Stream | HD البث المباشر لقناة اون سبورت تابعونا باستمرار علي .. http://www.youtube.com/c/OnSportEgypt https://www.facebook.com/OnSportEgypt...

03/11/2017

🇸🇸🇸🇸The 2017 (FIBA AfroBasket) Zone 5 Qualifier is Here. Our Very Own Team South Sudan is there for it All. 🏀🏀 🏀🏀🇸🇸🇸🇸 🇸🇸🇸🇸

03/08/2017

CAIRO (FIBA AfroBasket 2017) - As Egypt prepare to host the FIBA AfroBasket 2017 Zone 5 Qualifiers next week in Cairo, there is only one goal in the players' and Coach Jerry's mind.

From March 12-18, Egypt will take on FIBA Africa Zone 5 rivals - Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Somalia, Tanzania and Team South Sudan. - as they look to qualify for FIBA AfroBasket 2017 Final Round (August 19-30).