New Falcons want more gelling time

Gone are the days when Falcons were the real deal in Ugandan basketball. The six-time National Basketball League (NBL) winners are now a shadow of the side that dominated Ugandan basketball between 1998 and 2007.

Falcons’ steep decline started after the 2013 season in which they lost a game seven that handed City Oilers their first championship. After that, their trips to the post season became brief and the pedigree could only take them so far.
Things turned from bad to worse in 2017 when the team was relegated to Division One after losing a decisive final game of the regular season to UPDF Tomahawks.

Financial constraints
Many in basketball circles feared this would be the end for a team that has produced legends of the game but was suffering from poor management and financial constraints following the expiry of their deal with Startimes.
Names like Steven Omony, Eric Malinga, Henry Malinga and Peter Elungat are associated with the one powerful franchise.

Not much changed in management but Falcons regrouped and used one year to bounce back and return to the top flight.
Now privately bankrolled by a one Douglas Tito Kigunddu, the Makerere based outfit has failed to break into the top half of the log and slowly the playoffs are becoming a story of the past.

Final day heroics
The team only confirmed their stay in the league on the final day of the regular season in 2019 as Rhinos and Our Savior fell to the lower division.
Fast forward to 2021 and Falcons still have the same problems. Four games played, four games lost and the team just can’t find their footing in the shortened version of the league.

Douglas Uwizera is the man who has been the ever-present figure with Falcons both in the good and tough times.
“We made many additions to our roster and the team is taking long to gel,” Uwizera argues in an interview.
Losses to UCU Canons, UPDF, Oilers and Namuwongo Blazers have left Falcons closer to the bottom than top of the table and their stay in the top flight is far from guaranteed with five games left on their fixture.

“In our losses we have had phases where we have shown what we are capable of doing,” Uwizera says.
The club actually have some decent talent to survive in the league but the best is yet to come out of the unit and time is running out.
Andrew Opio and Brian Ssentongo are both champions with Oilers and capped by the national team. They are averaging 11 and five points respectively for the former heavyweights.

Star-studded outfit
Guard Dickson Asiku, Vinnie Jurua and Derrick Katumba are also on the roster and boast enough league experience.
“Our roster should be contending for playoffs with the experienced players we have and the young additions we made,” Uwizera, who is both a player and team manager, opined.
Head coach Disan Wabwire will now be thinking about escaping the knife but Uwizera believes playoffs basketball is still a big possibility.

UPDF, KCCA Panthers and KIU Titans occupy positions eight, seven and six on the log respectively. Falcons must find form to dislodge any of the three.
At the base of the table, Falcons have ‘good company’ in five-time league winners Betway Power, still searching their first league victory this season. How the mighty have fallen!