Against SLAC, James Okello was the only player to come off the bench and score but his two points were not enough as Oilers fell 96-68.
City Oilers are on the verge of elimination in the Basketball Africa League following a run of three straight losses to start the Nile Conference action in Cairo, Egypt.
The Ugandan champions have already lost to Petro de Luanda, Al Ahly and SLAC. They must now win against Ferroviario de Beira and Cape Town Tigers to stand any chance of progressing.
Whereas the two losses, to Petro and Al Ahly, were somewhat expected due to the ranking and pedigree of the two teams compared to the Oilers, it was expected that the game against SLAC would be a tightly contested one.
But the Guinean side blew away the eight-time National Basketball League champions in a 28-point demolition on Tuesday evening.
19:43 - 02.05.2023
BAL We just didn’t compete, says City Oilers head coach Mandy Juruni after another Basketball Africa League defeat
The second unit contributed just two points off the bench in one of the worst performances by the eight-time National Basketball League champions.
The 0-3 record to start the tournament has left more questions than answers as Oilers try to find their footing on their BAL debut.
No bench
One of the biggest challenges for the Oilers is the poor productivity from the bench to support the starting unit.
Most of the scoring has been left to James Justice Junior. and Falando Jones, with the rest of the team struggling to put up numbers.
Germaine Roebuck Jr. has struggled for consistency in the three games.
He was hot and scored 28 against Al Ahly but only had six and seven against Petro and SLAC, respectively.
Justice Jr.'s game-high 30 points against SLAC means that he is now averaging 20 in 32 minutes, while Jones has an average of 19 points in 31 minutes.
Ngor Barnaba, one of the four added to the team for BAL, has disappointed in the three games, averaging just 3.7 points in 16 minutes.
Titus Lual is the other player who has started all three games and is averaging 5 points and 4 rebounds in 25 minutes.
17:53 - 02.05.2023
BAL City Oilers staring Basketball Africa League elimination in the face after battering by SLAC
James Okello’s two free throws were the only bench points registered by the team.
And while the bench features seasoned campaigners like Jimmy Enabu and James Okello, it has found the going tough and failed to get a noticeable contribution.
The entire second unit has combined for just 23 points in all three games, leaving head coach Mandy Juruni with no option but to rely on the starters.
Against SLAC, only Okello was able to score from the bench as the Ugandan champions laboured for offence outside Juctice Jr. and Jones.
The two imports scored 50 of the 68 points on the day while the rest of the team combined for 18, Okello's two free throws the only points from the bench.
Enabu's average of 2 points and 2 rebounds in 14 minutes leaves a lot to de desired, and the same can be said of Okello's average of 1 point and 2 rebounds in 14 minutes.
Fayed Baale has an average of 2.7 points and 2 rebounds in 12 minutes.
Juruni and his troops must now find ways of scoring and getting stops to win the last two games of the tournament.
Any other defeat from now on will automatically rule Oilers out of contention for a playoff ticket to Kigali, Rwanda.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)