Power face fight to remain relevant against City Oilers

KAMPALA. The two biggest words in basketball are Game and Seven. We live for a Game Seven. Every series deserves a decisive game.
It’s one that no series between City Oilers and Betway Power has delivered in three attempts. Starting tomorrow at Lugogo, the pair go again in Game One of a possible seven to decide the 2016 Pepsi Fuba National Basketball League champions.
This is one of the most skewed match-ups basketball could ever come up with as Oilers have found the going a little too easy too often.
Few gave Power a chance to get this far but now that they are here, they deserve respect and know they have a genuine shot of making it six titles.

The history
This is perhaps the one area where Power hold an advantage. With five diadems, the last of which came in 2011, they are two titles heavier than Oilers.
However, the latter’s three crowns have come in quick time. Oilers have the chance to become the first team to win four titles in four yours.
Coach Mandy Jurunis has warned that there will not be a let-up. We are favourites but not champions. We have to earn it,” Juruni emphasised. For everything that Power might be, erasing that 4-0 sweep in the 2014 finals should be a start. Winning a game will make them feel significantly lighter.

This season
As Oilers won their first Fiba Africa Zone V Club title and eventually debuted at the Africa Club Champions’ Cup in Egypt, Power were having a sluggish season. It’s not until the 3-2 semifinal series victory over KIU Titans in late November that anyone took notice of Power’s resilience.
They are also one of only three teams to have beaten Oilers this season, the other two being Pemba Warriors and KIU. Rallying around an unseen cause, Joseph Ikong and his mates have played out of their skins to defy all doubters.
And like veteran forward Isaac Afidra noted, this is what they were chasing, another shot at the title. “All we wanted was to reach the finals,” Afidra said.

On court
That transition that punished so many teams enroute their 2008, 2010 and 2011 titles has since been demystified. Power can no longer win a series running. Arnold, the unheralded Power coach, has his hands to find the perfect half-court game to get Juruni out of his comfort zone. Juruni has always said that Power’s running “suits” his team. To that, the size and agility of Kami Kabange often renders Power thin.

PEPSI FUBA LEAGUE PLAYOFF FINALS
CITY OILERS - POWER
SERIES HEAD TO HEAD
2013: Oilers beat Power 3-1 in the semis
2014: Oilers swept Power 4-0 in the finals
2015: Oilers beat Power 3-1 in the semis

WRITER’S PREDICTION: Oilers to win series 4-1

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