BASKETBALL: Matlhodi Malope
BENDING could not reduce seven-foot basketball star Patrick Ewing’s monstrous height enough to be on the same level as his group of young trainees at the Alexandra All Sports Centre this week. He had to squat for proper eye contact.
“Now guys,” he said to the group of eager boys and girls standing in front of him. “Don’t forget to keep your free hand away from your body when you bounce the ball. This will help to keep your opponent at bay.”
He unwound his body to watch as the children took their basketballs and began running, passing to each other in pairs. “That’s good! That’s great,” he shouted enthusiastically. “Don’t forget — pass from chest to chest.”
The New York Knickerbockers star was on his first trip to South Africa to run basketball clinics. He worked with other NBA stars, Alonzo Mourning of the Charlotte Hornets, John Crotty of Utah Jazz, and Denver Nuggets’ Dikembe Mutombo on a five-day tour to run clinics in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
More than 300 kids attended the Alexandra clinic last weekend. Lined up in four rows, they each had a coach to show them the basic techniques of the game.
Long distance did not stop 19-year-old Andries Modiba getting his bouncing technique lessons from his idol Patrick Ewing, live, this time, not on Bop TV’s NBA programme. He persuaded an aunt to drive him and a friend all the way from Atteridgeville, Pretoria, to Alexandra.
Accompanied by friend and fellow basketball player Thomas Bogopa, Modiba came out of the court panting – – a broad smile of contentment pasted on his face.
“I used to look at the ball when I bounced it, but now I have seen how professionals do it,” said the excited Modiba, explaining that they had told him to face his opponent instead. Modiba started playing for the Atteridgeville-based Bullets basketball team in 1992 when he was 17.
“I am so excited that I learned the trick at the right time, when we are approaching the Regional Championship tournaments on September 16,” explained the newly informed Modiba.
According to the general secretary of the Basketball Community of South Africa, Albert Mokoena, this time people showed more awareness and interest in the game than last year. “We need proper upgraded facilities to make basketball a success in our country,” Mokoena said.
“We are very grateful for the generous donation from Ewing, and we will ensure that the money is applied appropriately,” he continued. Ewing donated $10 000 for renovation and building of basketball courts in Soweto.
Last year’s visiting group donated 30 portable baskets and 200 balls to be shared in Soweto.
Ewing himself didn’t have much to say, “It is my pleasure to bring the NBA experience to people in other areas of the world — sports and hard work can be an inspiration to the people in South Africa.”