Coach Mutokambali determined to lead The Hoops to their first title at The BKBNL Tournament.
After group stages played in a round-robin format, apparently to a greater extent all side now have an understanding of each opponent’s strength and weaknesses. To this, they will forge a strategy to proceed to the final stage of the contention.
For Coach Mutokambi Moise of The Hoops, a proper acquaintance has already been established for now chief rivals Rose Akon and Georgia Odhiambo. In a post-match interview after the match against APR BBC, Coach Mutoka spoke about the strategies he used to beat APR BBC and added that he would repeat what he did to defeat Ubumwe. The Hoops beat Ubumwe 83-67.
The semi-final is advantageous to The Hoops if they can defeat Ubumwe. Going Past Ubumwe in the semi-finals will mean that The Hoops have higher chances of claiming their first title.
Mutokambali said, “The group stage is over, the first two games were tough for us because we lacked team chemistry in the game since we had not played or been together for a while. We did not camp, we have to practice back home. It is not the same as the people who work twice a day and stay together like IPRCs, they stayed together in their educational institutions. That is why the first game was hard for us.”
“We tried to improve in the second game against Ubumwe and the tactics we ended the match with, gave us the momentum, courage and confidence for everyone. We had already corrected the defense and the rest was going to continue with the attack. That is why we tried to play fast breaks and counter-attacks against APR. It worked for us because since Dumi (Sandra Kantore) is not playing due to the injury, they have no point guard with the ability to organize and distribute the balls so much. We stopped Charlotte from scoring then we made a difference early just to rest our players and prepare for the next match.”
How they will be preparing for the match against Ubumwe in the semifinals
“We have to prepare as if it is our final because it will be a single-elimination game, knock out. we have to put in more effort than we had put in the previous encounter. They have great players like Akon and Georgia.”
He added “We will have to implement a strategy to stop them. Especially Rose Akon, in the game we played against Ubumwe was the game in which Akon scored few points. In the other matches, she scored above 20 but our game she scored 19 points. We have to prevent her to score over 20 points since our scorers are back on track. Cisse’s score is high now. It is a must-win game. We have to reach the finals.” Said Coach Mutokambali
Mutoka determined to lead BKBNL to their first time.
“There is hope because I think if we face RP-IPRC Huye again, we will be the favorite because we learned a lot from the loss. We played them with the feeling that we could easily win. However, they gave us a challenge. I hope next time the players will come to the court with zero mistakes.”
“They (IPRC Huye) are the ones who have to be on pressure, they have to keep their winning streak. In the first game we played against them, we made mistakes and got into the game late, that will never happen. When a team beats you in the group stage game, you probably have a better chance of defeating them in the final. We are ready even if it will not be easy. We want to win this trophy to make history, the Hoops Rwanda have no league title,” said Mutokambali.
The hoops Rwanda team, which is known for raising young girl players, has in recent years started competing on a high level and they are the title contenders. Even if they have not won the league, they started to collect some local trophies, like this year’s International Women’s day tournament.
Women’s Semi-finals
11:30 RP-IPRC Huye vs APR BBC
16:30 The Hoops Rwanda vs Ubumwe BBC
