Strathmore Blades not giving up despite KNBL poor run

The students lost 59-71 to Ulinzi Warriors before going down 73-80 against Umoja at the Nyayo Gymnasium, Nairobi.

Strathmore Blades have now lost 12 matches, with five wins accumulating 22 points after 17 matches.

“The boys had some positive energy after promoting five players from the developmental side to the main team to boost up the squad. I am happy they played well, they had good stats and they only lost due to inexperience,” said Ochieng.

Ochieng is still optimistic of getting better in the remaining games as he admits they have learned valuable lessons despite missing key players of the first team due to injuries.

“I am happy with the performance of the team especially having nine players from the first team out of the league, the developmental players are really catching up well. I know the pressure is on our side as we need to fight for position seven or eight for the playoffs.

“The remaining games, I am confident that the boys are going to give a good show, we are working hard for that and we are going to review the games and work on our mistakes,” he added.

At the same time, the tactician is worried of the increasing number of injured players after Francis Wafula, one of their key players picked injured over the weekend.

“We had another additional injury, a very worrying injury though the boy is now stable. He had a concussion which means another experienced player is out and he will be out for the whole season.”

Elsewhere, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) assistant head coach Mike Opel has called upon his boys to work on their weak areas despite winning last weekend in another men’s premier league match.

The Dockers defeated NBK Phoenix 80-71 at the Makande Gymnasium, Mombasa.

“We won the game, but some areas we didn’t do well like box out and rebounding, our rotation on defense, we allowed NBK to get easy baskets, we committed so many fouls. All in all we want to place ourselves at an advantage come playoff time by winning as many games as possible,” Opel said.

The former champions are currently fourth on the league standings with 31 points after playing 17 matches, winning 14 and losing three with five games to go.

The remaining five games are against defending champions Nairobi City Thunder, Ulinzi Warriors, Umoja, ANU Wolfpacks and Strathmore Blades.