NBA - Can Hasheem Thabeet please stand up?

Yes, some of you might wonder why we're picking on a non-Kenyan to profile on our blog, well he's the first East African ever to play in the most prestigious basketball league in the world - the NBA! Thabeet also happens to be among the few Africans ever to play in the NBA Playoffs ( others being Hakeem 'The Dream' Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo, D.J Mbenga in that list). We hope he inspires the next generation of basketballers from Africa more so East Africa which has seen little action in the US-base league.

H. Thabeet waits for ball - image courtesy of www.nba.com

Thabeet's team Oklahoma City Thunder (OKC) led by current MVP Kevin Durant are currently in the Western Conference Finals playing last year's Conference winners San Antonio Spurs (SAS). As of doing this blog-post, OKC was trailing SAS  0-2 games in a best-of-7 series. They also lost fellow African Congolese-born Serge Ibaka to injury going into the Finals.

NOTE: Serge Ibaka did somehow make a recovery on his injury and made it back to the team, inspiring them to a win over San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 on Sunday.

Is this time for Thabeet to step up his game?

Having been part of the bench for OKC, he can become a contributor to the franchise surviving and even challenging for the NBA Playoffs Finals. But playing against veterans such as Tim Duncan in the paint and his supporting cast of Parker, Ginobili amond others won't be an easy ride. He can use his height to his advantage and also get the team to play the ball off their main player Kevin Durant (who needs to step up and show why he's the league's MVP...).
His regular season stats don't look too favourable with 23 Games played, average of 1.2 points per game and 1.7 rebounds per game ( from www.nba.com). What is worrying though for Thabeet is his manager's lack of faith in him especially in transition and protecting the rim. He might need to reinvent himself in the few minutes he might get playing as the Thunder look to surge back into the series.

Till then, twa kutakia kila la heri, ndugu!

In Related News:
2-time NBA Playoffs winner Hakeem Olajuwon was recently named an NBA Goodwill Ambassador for Africa. His achievements and accomplishments will come in handy as the NBA tries to reach to a wider African audience, both for its broadcasts and talent search. Dreams do come true indeed...

Kenya Basketball's revamped website

In these times that Kenyan sport is slowly taking different forms of transformation both offline and online, it is fair to applaud the steps taken by various sports federations in the country. Kenya Basketball Federation's officials have decided to take their game online and through the revamped website, www.kenyabasketballfederation.co.ke  hope to appeal to a wider audience of the basketball game in Kenya and around the world.

Screen-shot of the revamped Kenya Basketball Federation website

This is a positive step forward for the officials who were elected to fresh mandate in KBF elections held earlier this year. This platform should the springboard for a final take-off of the game. This is after the #FridayNightBasketball (with CodeRed Basketball) breathed a new lease of life to the game since last year. This year it still attracts crowds but the other weekend games are yet to make any significant numbers. The game is also in dire need of corporate sponsorship not just for the League(s) but also for some of the teams who barely make it from game to game.
The game also needs some funds to be able to expand its outreach to other urban centres which see just a fraction of the League action while there should be continuous regional leagues. With the county system of government coming to effect, this is an idea the Executive Committee ought to look at.
But for now, we at SportsKenya applaud KBF for the baby steps towards the realisation of the game's success in the country.