Kenya Morans want early preps ahead of Fiba World Cup qualifiers

Starting preparations early and getting top players back will be crucial for Kenya Morans if they are to revive the hopes of reaching the Fiba Men’s World Cup in 2023.

Those are observations of the Morans assistant coach Sadat Gaya and Oman-based power forward Ariel Okall who believe Kenya still have a chance of getting one of the three tickets to the second round from Pool “D”.

The Morans were humiliated by DR Congo 66-56, Egypt 105-51 and Senegal 100-55 in the first window of the first round held from February 25-27 in Dakar.

“We need to get our players in camp early for a minimum of two weeks. We also need to get the likes of Tylor Ongwae, Desmond Owili and Bush Wamukota back into the team,” said Sadat.

He explained that the Morans star Ongwae missed the Dakar trip due to club commitments with the Bakken Bears in Denmark, while Owili and Wamukota had knee injury and back pain respectively.

“Our opponents are also very experienced at the World Cup qualifiers which we had not attempted for 30 years. It’s still a learning curve for us. They were also good defensively,” said Sadat before adding that with early preparations and availability of all players, “We can beat anybody."

“We are in talks with the Kenya Basketball Federation on the way forward because we would like to start training early for the second window scheduled for July.”

Okall, who turns out for Ahli Sidab, reiterated that proper preparations will make or break their ambition.

“We need to have all our guys back by July and prepare well. We can still do this,” he stressed. The Morans returned home on March 1, with the head coach Cliff Owuor heading to Rwanda where he handles Kigali-based basketball club, APR.

Senegal, DR Congo and Egypt are all tied on five points from two wins and a loss each, while Kenya occupies bottom spot with three points from three losses.