Basketballghana.com columnist Shafic Osman digs deep into last Saturday’s warm-up games and concludes there is more room for improvement.
By Shafic Osman
Following the success of the UPAC warmup games held in November on the University of Ghana court, a sequel took place on Saturday March 7 at the University of Professional Studies court.
It was billed to feature 8 institutions but 7 came through on the day. Minus the positive of teams warming up, getting acquainted with other teams and assessing their strengths and weaknesses, the level of play was below par to what was witnessed in the first warmup.
The offense of the teams was virtually non-existent, defence was scruffy and enthusiasm was for the most part appalling.
GIMPA vs Wisconsin (28-13)
GIMPA is one of the highly touted teams taking part in the UPAC games. Some deem them as the only true challenger to the threat of Accra Polytechnic by virtue of the bevy of experienced players on their squad.
They did live up to that tag by dominating Wisconsin University College for the most part of the game. The duo of McMartey Lawer and Morrison were a little rusty but did give us a peak of what to expect in the tournament proper. Jake Morrison who returned from a groin injury played point guard and delivered some dazzling drives and dribbles in the game. The Francophone laden Wisconsin team also showed some spurts of athleticism but were eventually underwhelmed by GIMPA. GIMPA missed star forward Kwame Boamah in that game.
UPSA vs GTUC: (20-18)
UPSA were the favourites to win this one but did not do so convincingly. The largely lacklustre game came down to a silly play by one of GTUC’s players who fouled UPSA star guard, Delvin with 4 seconds to go in the game.
It was reminiscent of Chris Webber’s silly time out call in the NCAA tournament back in the early 90s. Ghana Technology University College was up by two points at the time the foul was committed and Delvin went on to sink both free throws to tie the game and head into overtime. A minute was played in overtime and University of Professional Studies scored two points and went on to hold on to possession till the buzzer was sounded.
Zenith University College vs Marshall University College (43-15)
This was the highest scoring game of the day when Zenith dominating from the start of the game till the end. Marshall settled for wild deep 3 point attempts and ridiculous circus shots to attempt closing the ever gaping difference between the two teams.
Zenith’s big man, PK attempted a couple of dunks and missed all, including a wide open windmill attempt. That and a couple of Olajuwon-esque blocks got the crowd going on a day when most teams played like they did not want to.
Ghana Technology University College (GTUC) vs Pentecost (19-10)
This was an opportunity for Ghana Technology University College (GTUC) to redeem itself and it did so but with less panache and brilliance. This game was a continuum of turnovers and cluelessness on offense. The shots were made sparsely with wide open layups missed continuously. GTUC rested their shooting guard, Salim, in this one but still edged Pentecost who had virtually no identity during the game. Ebo had a couple of big blocks and rebounds in the game.
Takeaways
Although the games were not as interesting as expected, the performance can be pardonable due to the fear of injuries from competing teams.
It was great to see Jake and Mark play for GIMPA after all the hype surrounding the two. It would be more thrilling to see Kwame Boamah join the two in what might possibly be the second “Big 3” of the tournament (Dodzi, Farhat and Romero of Accra Poly are the legit Big 3)
