Unbeaten: Al Ahli Tripoli from Libya, pictured versus Kriol Stars, became the second Libyan team to make it to the BAL final. They face Angola’s Petro de Luanda on Saturday. Photo: Julien Bacot: BAL/Getty Images
The fifth year of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) may be the charm for the continent’s premier men’s basketball tournament.
After battling Covid-19 disruptions when it was supposed to launch in 2020, the journeyman league appears to be hitting its stride — at least if this year’s playoffs are anything to go by.
By some strange twist in convention, this year Pretoria managed to pry the playoffs and finals from Kigali’s clutches — an unprecedented move given how much sway Rwanda appears to have in the league’s runnings. All four playoffs and finals have been played in East Africa’s swanky BK Arena.
Yet, as fledgling a basketball nation as it may be, South Africa seems to have made quite an impression when it finally got to get in on the action by hosting the Kalahari Conference in March last year. Our signature vibes — punctuated by schoolboy war cries and amapiano performances — may have been what sold the powers that be. That, and of course, having a team to root for in the since-derailed Cape Town Tigers, who made the semi-finals but lost out on achieving third place overall.
But no such luck this year. The Tigers are nowhere in sight and our new representatives, Made By Ball, didn’t make the playoffs. Thankfully we do have Southern African Development Community representation in our Angolan brethren, the defending champions Petro de Luanda. Just as well, because they clinched a semifinal spot on Monday by beating Tunisia’s US Monastir 95-84.
The other semifinal spot went to BAL first-timers Rwanda’s Armée Patriotique Rwandaise (APR), who thrashed last season’s third-place winners Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria) 104-73 on Monday as well.
These games set us up for Wednesday, when things warmed up in temperature and play as the cold eased off and the semifinals took place.
In the afternoon game, a more-than-decent-for-midweek crowd featured Rwandan flags that made it clear that APR was supported. The team’s Malian star and the tournament’s leading active scorer on average, Aliou Diarra, was expected to have a big game but only managed to score 13 points — the exact amount of points that his team would’ve needed to tie or win the game asTripoli beat them 84-71.
With their win, Al Ahli Tripoli became just the second Libyan team to make it to the BAL final after going unbeaten in the group stage of play — and in their maiden BAL season, no less.
In the evening game, Petro faced the newest Egyptian BAL team in Al Ittihad Alexandria, who had remained untouched in the playoffs. South African fans took to cheering on Samkelo Cele, Petro’s Durban-born star, in what felt like the most lively and spirited game of the playoffs. Cele, who earned himself a stint with the New York Knicks’ (NBA) Summer League team last July after playing with the Tigers last season, scored 10 points and four rebounds in their dominant 96-74 win.
Al Ittihad and APR will vie for the bronze finish when they play in the third-place game on Friday evening – an opportunity for both rookie teams to leave with something.
Pretoria’s frosty temperatures and the randomness of midweek basketball games notwithstanding, audience turnout grew as the days went, dispelling any concerns of scantness.
On Saturday, during seeding games, the music and drums in the arena sounded louder than the crowd. In one section, a few children could be heard cheering “De-fence!” and screaming gleefully when a player — from any team — made a free throw shot. By the last game of the semis, the crowd had clearly picked a side, with loud chants accompanied by stomps to the beat of “Lets go, Petro!”
So we know who the crowd is likely to cheer for come Saturday’s final.
Speaking to the Mail & Guardian, Petro’s assistant coach Jorge Elorduy preferred not to linger on the team’s strong showing. “We are really happy with the performance, [but] this game is over and we look for[ward to] Saturday.”
Tripoli’s head coach Fouad Abou Chacra was more forthcoming: “If you look at our stats, you’ll see our team is doing eight, nine turnovers a game. Plus, we are doing like, 18, 19 assists a game. These are signs for a champion. And we will do anything to win it. Because we have quality players, we have determination and the will. Inshallah, God will give us this victory. Forty more minutes.”
And, yes, we all know which region tends to hold the cards when we get this deep into the season. But last season’s Petro win may have been the first of many non-North African titles, too — and a back-to-back win for the Angolans.