On Friday, February 24, 2023, basketball fans will be flocking to the streets of Kiyovu and Rugunga, going to Lycée de Kigali to watch the teams that have won the championship in this game.
It is a game that REG BBC will host Patriots BBC, at 3:00 p.m. in Lycée de Kigali, on the 19th day of the season.
In this story we are going to return to some of the expectations in this game, which connects the crowd in Rwandan basketball.
Balance the score
It is the final game of the first half of the season. The two teams go into the meeting level on points in the league standings, where REG leads with 19 points and is tied with the second-placed Patriots.
The two teams are tied on a single game losing streak, with the Patriots losing to Kigali Titans in their season opener, while REG’s latest loss was against APR BBC on Friday last week.
Competing to end the first half of the season one leader, it is one of the most intense matches in this game.
The coaches were blindfolded
Among the other expectations in this game is the work of the coaches who can make a difference because the players are not very big.
REG BBC has new coach Dean Murray who coached the Patriots in 2020, knowing the players will help him as this team doesn’t change much.
REG BBC has new coach Dean Murray who coached the Patriots in 2020, knowing the players will help him as this team doesn’t change much.
It means that players like captain Mugabe Aristide, Sagamba Sedar, Ndizeye Ndayisaba Dieudonné known as Gaston this American coach knows very well.
Especially the coach of Patriots, Henry Mwinuka is very familiar with REG because he left it quickly and most of the players who have been there for two years are still there.
It’s not just about knowing the players because Mwinuka will play because he wants to do well at REG, which has a bad result.
On the part of coach Dean Murray, the game comes in preparation for the BAL games next March in Dakar, Senegal.
Individual players can make the difference
One of the things that unites the crowd watching this game is the names of the most important players in both teams.
REG BBC fans expect to see its top players like Cleveland Thomas Junior, Adonis Filer and Pitchou Manga make the difference as it will win the game, something that was missing from the latest APR BBC.
On the other hand, players like Kenneth Gasana, Ndizeye Dieudonné Gaston and Hagumintwari Steve not forgetting the experience of Mugabe are among the players expected to do something in this conference game.
In general, in the field expected to compete between Gasana and Adonis, each of them plays for his team, while in the case of winning three points between Cleveland and Gaston, you will see more of a surprise than the other which will increase the chances of his team to win the game.
There’s nothing better than Kendall Gray and Pitchou Manga’s hard-hitting ‘Rebound’ effort, whether it’s to stand up or not.
Thinking of BAL
Since 2020, the new BAL (Basketball Africa League) competition has been established, all the remaining teams want to participate in this competition, many of them have no doubt in raising the level of Basketball in Africa.
This year the Energy Society team will be participating for the second time in a row. Last year he didn’t do well because in the last games held at BK Arena he was kicked out.
This year he behaved better than last year, there is no doubt that this Friday’s game is a good practice to prepare for these games.
So the REG players will play to prove themselves to the new trainer, which adds to the strength of the game.
Patriots was the first team from Rwanda to participate in this tournament, only the last two years it did not go because REG had won two championships.
This year they will be aiming to win this year’s championship, so that they can get a ticket to repeat it.
You won’t win the cup without beating the competition and that’s why this team will do their best to get the best result in this game.
Last year, the Patriots defeated REG BBC in both games in the regular season, only for the Power Corporation team to make up for it in the Playoffs, winning the championship five games out of three.
