Latest news with #SamVincent
The Herald
26-05-2025
- Sport
- The Herald
SA basketball league needs shake up, says Vincent after MBB's early BAL exit
Sport Not enough league matches in a season for players to improve, compared to other countries Premium By ANATHI WULUSHE IN KIGALI - 26 May 2025 Experienced head coach Sam Vincent has bemoaned the current structure of SA's domestic Basketball National League (BNL), saying it needs to change if the country's teams are to be successful on the continent. Vincent, a 1986 NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, was speaking after his Johannesburg-based Made By Ball (MBB) were eliminated from Africa's biggest tournament, the Basketball Africa League, in Rwanda on Sunday...
The Herald
24-05-2025
- Sport
- The Herald
MBB's Pretoria playoffs qualification hangs by thread
His absence in the paint was severely felt from the get-go defensively as the Kenyans bum-rushed the South Africans. Ariel Okall Okoll Koranga quickly put up four points through driving layups, and Elbert Odero, together with Eugene Adera, added one apiece from the free throw line. Stunned by the fast start from Nairobi, MBB head coach Sam Vincent called a timeout. His talk seemed to calm the nerves as straight from the huddle, Mooring opened the scoring for MBB with a two-pointer, but the Kenyans kept on chipping away at the score and halfway through the quarter, took a 10-point lead. With MBB cornered, another Lenard Jr stepped up and he scored 14 points, closing the gap and handing the SA side a 24-20 advantage. MBB stepped on the accelerator in the second quarter and took an 11-point lead halfway, but failure to convert points and rebounds at crucial moments allowed the Kenyans to spark a comeback, eventually going to the break 41-39. Lenard and Mooring continued their fight in the third quarter, combining for 12 points, but despite those efforts, Nairobi took a 55-54 lead. Seconds into the fourth quarter, Omar Thielemans put up a two-point layup to hand MBB the lead. Lenard Jr followed that with another two-pointer and that would be the last time the SA team would take the lead at 58-57 with nine minutes to go. Lenard would continue making shots, but the other MBB players were lost at sea. City Thunder quickly extended their lead to a seven-point difference with five minutes to go, and then they went on a stretch to eventually walk away with their first win of the competition. City Thunder had five players who made it past double figures, with Odero making 23 points. Daily Dispatch
The Herald
20-05-2025
- Sport
- The Herald
Prinsloo stars as MBB snatch first BAL win at the death
Pieter Prinsloo and Robinson Odoch produced the magic as Johannesburg's Made by Ball (MBB) claimed their first win in the Basketball Africa League at the BK Arena in Kigali on Tuesday. Ugandan Odoch slotted a three-point dagger at the sound of the buzzer to usher in wild celebrations as MBB secured a come-from-behind 75-74 win over Nairobi City Thunder. Prinsloo is the main man that head coach Sam Vincent would have bought drinks for on Tuesday night. The Pretoria-born star scored 30 points, had 11 rebounds and an assist. Another standout performer for MBB was Teafale Lenard Jr with 20 points and Jovan Mooring, who added 10. The win over City Thunder now means the SA team either have to win one game with a superior points difference, or two games, depending on how other matches play out in the Nile Conference, to comfortably claim the last wild card spot. That berth is currently occupied by FUS Rabat of Morocco, who have won two games but have a negative 19-point difference. Vincent reshuffled his starting five and brought in 2.13m tall David Craig in place of Nathi Sibanyoni, who had started the opening two games against APR and Al Ahly Tripoli. MBB showed positive intent just seconds from the tip-off as Lenard Jr drove through City Thunder to put in a layup for the team's first two points. Cheik Mbacke levelled matters with a two-point jump shot. The spirit in the MBB side was at a high — the bench would stand up and signal that a shot was in, even before it was released. This confidence from their teammates motivated the starting five, and they fired two three-pointers consecutively, courtesy of Mooring and Prinsloo. Then Craig made his huge presence felt in the paint defensively and offensively, getting rebounds. In the first six minutes of the quarter, MBB took an 18-6 lead but like in the first two games when Vincent brought on the bench, the tempo dropped. City Thunder managed to close the gap to 18-15 with two minutes remaining but Neo Mothiba and Dyvonne Pfach, with their layups, ensured the Joburg side took a 22-15 lead in the first quarter.
The Herald
18-05-2025
- Sport
- The Herald
Joburg's MBB blow lead in BAL showdown against APR in Kigali
Johannesburg Made By Ball (MBB) were left kicking themselves after they blew a first-half lead of 47-45 and ended up losing 103-81 to Armée Patriotique Rwandaise in the Basketball Africa League at the BK Arena in Kigali in Rwanda on Sunday evening. This was MBB's second loss in Africa's biggest basketball competition. Though there is still a week and four games to be played in the Nile Conference, they are now under pressure to deliver a win in the game on Tuesday against Nairobi City Thunder if they are to return to SA having qualified for the playoffs. City Thunder have problems of their own as they have lost their opening two games with 20-plus margins. Apart from international import Teafale Lenard Jr's 20 points, Jovan Mooring's 17 and Pieter Prinsloo's 13, none of the other MBB players made it past double figures against APR. This is no doubt something that will be on top of the agenda for MBB's head coach Sam Vincent. Ntore Habimana set the packed arena filled with APR supporters alight with his three-point shot from downtown from the tip-off. But Prinsloo quickly responded for MBB. That back and forth in the first minute would set the precedent for the first quarter, where APR would score and MBB would answer. The lead changed hands four times, and the game was tied on four occasions as well. Unlike the previous game, against Al Ahly Tripoli on Saturday, the MBB bench showed up in the points column, with every player having at least a bucket. And that proved to be crucial for them as they took a 26-23 lead in the first 10 minutes. That was the first time the South African debutants won a quarter in the BAL. MBB came out of head coach Sam Vincent's dugout talk with an extra gear offensively in the second quarter. Prinsloo was at the forefront in pressurising APR as he knocked two consecutive threes in the opening minutes of the stanza. Those shots saw the momentum shift the visitors' way. MBB at one point took an eight-point lead, but backed by chants from the crowd, APR managed to make a comeback and took the lead again. Regardless of the loud cheers, the Joburg team kept their cool under pressure and put up a fight. Vincent kept encouraging his team from the sidelines. He was animated and sweating while walking up and down the touchline. He was rewarded as his side took a 47-45 lead to the break, stunning the Rwandan crowd, who the previous day saw their team dismantle Nairobi City Thunder by a margin of 29 points. Whatever APR's head coach James Edward Maye Jr said in the dressing room revved up the Rwandan side in the opening minutes of the third quarter. They quickly closed the two-point gap and accelerated their pace in attack. As in their first game against City Thunder, APR went into overdrive in the last 20 minutes of the game. Aliou Diarra, Youssoupha Ndoye and Axel Olenga Mpoyo were the masters in the attack as they all hit double figures in the individual points column. The first five minutes of the third quarter registered 59-52 in favour of APR and then stretched it to finish the quarter 73-59. The loud cheers in the stands kept on growing, and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame smiled as the writing was on the wall for the SA team. Any chances of MBB making a remarkable comeback in the final stanza diminished as they were let down by average shooting from inside and outside the arc. Daily Dispatch
The Herald
18-05-2025
- Sport
- The Herald
MBB's lack of experience exposed in BAL opener in Kigali
SA not having a competitive professional basketball league was highlighted by 1986 NBA champion and Johannesburg's Made By Ball (MBB) head coach Sam Vincent, as a reason that contributed to their Basketball Africa League opening loss in Rwanda on Saturday. The Gauteng side put up a decent fight on debut but lost 87-77 to Libya's Al Alhi Tripoli in the Nile Conference at the BK Arena in Kigali. He said they had not had enough intense preparation together as a group for the competition. MBB did show character in the third and fourth quarters and managed to reduce a 19-point game to five points. For the majority of the game, they seemed disjointed and lacked fluidity and speed offensively and defensively. Vincent admitted this was due to inexperience at the BAL level and the fact that his team are yet to find each other. Their international imports Robinson Odoch Opong, Jovan Mooring and Teafale Lenard Jr did not have many training sessions with the team as they rolled into the team just weeks before. That trio were the best performers for MBB against Tripoli. Mooring made 26 points, Lenard Jr finished with 20 and Robinson Odoch Opong managed 15. 'If, like some of the other countries, in SA we had a real strong pro league, where a lot of these guys could develop and play a lot of competitive tough games, we could learn how to close down tough situations. It would make a big difference,' Vincent said. 'A lot of the guys did join the team a little bit late. So that's a bit of a disadvantage for us, guys are still trying to understand who can do what. In critical situations. Usually, you learn that somewhere, rather than in a major tournament like the BAL. Another factor for MBB was the inferior contributions made by their bench, which was their downfall in the game. Their substitutions made 10 points while Tripoli had 32 points with many of those coming from their former NBA Academy Africa student-athlete Jean-Jacques Boissy, who scored 28 points, including 24 from behind the arc, got seven rebounds and three steals. Vincent said this was an area that needed to improve going deep into the competition. On Sunday evening, MBB play the home team Armée Patriotique Rwandaise. APR, who seemed organised in their attack, comfortably beat Kenya's Nairobi City Thunder 92-63. Their star Aliou Diara did it all for APR, finishing with 21 points, 12 rebounds, six blocks and four steals, with the team shooting 52.3 percent from the floor. Former NBA player Chasson Randle added 20 points for APR, who also recorded 28 fast-break points. Daily Dispatch
