They’re black, they’re pretty small and they believe they can beat the best teams in the Premier Basketball League
BASKETBALL: Rowan Callaghan
IT IS early evening and the End Street basketball courts are still drenched in sunlight and the usual sounds of the playground can be heard above the traffic. A small noise can be heard coming from one of the courts which slowly builds and becomes louder. The words “dunk it, dunk it” are shouted by a group standing around clapping.
Everyone is silenced by a loud metallic scream followed by a loud snapping noise. The airborne player swings for a few seconds on the straining hoop and drops back to earth. The whole basketball structure still quivers from the impact. Welcome to a session with the Soweto Liberty’s Rhythm of the Nation, the first black team to be turn professional in South Africa.
After all the players have returned to earth they gather around the force behind the team, enigmatic manager Albert Mokoena. The first thing you notice in the huddle as they prepare to go through another drill, is their size, or lack of it. Immediately this raises questions about their ability to survive in a sport where height is touted as the ultimate weapon.
All the players give Mokoena their undivided attention as he explains the next part of the exercise. He is clearly in charge of the team he calls his family. “I met them in White City. I was just driving from work — it was 1987,” the effervescent manager says, recalling the first time he met the guys. “I hadn’t seen many teams in our country. I offered to help them get organised,” he continues as team captain Billy Banda takes over the session.
Mokoena showed more than just an interest in his players as athletes, he also cared about their well being. He began by finding out where they came from and giving some of them motivation to get back to school. An indication of his commitment to the players as individuals is the team name. The initials eLCU stand for Liberty Centre Unlimited which encompasses family, respect and unlimited potential.
“I would like to play a role in their education. I took them into my home and enrolled them in an English school in the city,” he says proudly. “We have always worked as a family.”
Mokoena the diplomat has to be sidelined for a while as the coach takes over from his captain and drills the team. It is during these drills that the team’s strengths are showcased. Everyone in the team is fast, with the control to handle the ball at speed, not to mention some fine passing touches and lots of spring.
When asked how many guards (smaller ball handlers and perimeter shooters) there are,Mokoena counts six. In fact only giant forward (and slam-dunking demon) Boniface Kubongo seems to have the “right height”, but Mokoena is quick to shrug off conventions. Everything about his team’s play is atypical.
“The height is only an advantage under the board,” Albert says. Captain Billy Banda agrees. “It is not a game for the big guys. Ours is a running game,” he says. Mokoena’s belief in their running style is evident when he says, “The games I lose, I don’t lose because I didn’t defend, it will be because I didn’t shoot well,” he says confidently.
During a practice game his players hit the target frequently as if to reinforce their manager’s confidence in them. Big Boniface also goes over two of his players to thunder home a powerful slam-dunk which rocks the hoop for the umpteenth time. Players also pull off amazing passes and put on sparkling dribbling displays on the slippery wax- like court. The surface also causes a few drops now and then.
The question of entry into the Premier Basketball League (PBL) makes Mokoena noticeably cautious for the first time. The issue of why it has taken his team so long to be allowed to play professionally is a sensitive one and Mokoena does not want to antagonise his opponents any further. “The decision lies with the PBL,” he says simply.
A sign of the tension between the two parties is the anger Mokoena feels over an invitation tournament his team was invited to attend last year. Just when he thought he had completed all the requirements to enter the tournament, the PBL made a surprise decision. “The night before the first game they sent me a long list of what I need,” he says bitterly.
Another roadblock for the team has been a home venue, and Mokoena was told that if he did not have one, he would not get in. “We don’t have the facilities,” he says.
Ask him what reason the PBL would possibly have for keeping his team out and the answer is simple. “They are fucking shit scared of us,” he says.
The statement might be more than just a boast if you consider that the Libertys beat both the champions Spartans and Pretoria Bulls in that tournament last year. This is reinforced by Billy who simply says, “I don’t see anybody beating us.” For the moment though, Albert will have to be content with playing in the premier division of the Witwatersrand Basketball League, which they won last season.
Despite the setbacks, Mokoena and his team remain buoyant. And why not? They have been told by the PBL chairman that next year they will be turning professional. They will be taking their elation at this decision and their confidence with them on a tour of the United States in November. There they will be playing against strong college teams in preparation for next season.
The team huddles for a final time in the dark and prepares to leave. When you ask ebullient star player Boniface Kubongo how he feels about the team, he conveys the feelings of most of the team. “I will stay with the eLCUs for ever and ever,” he says.