Silverbacks star Robinson Opong says that they cannot afford to be satisfied with their recent achievements at the first window of the 2021 FIBA Afrobasket Qualifiers in Alexandria, Egypt.
Uganda, despite losing to Egypt in the opener, finished second of Group E after recording wins against Morocco and Cape Verde.
The second window is due February 19-21 and the top three teams in each group will qualify for Afrobasket finals set later this year in Kigali, Rwanda.
Uganda, as it stands, will need one win from three to secure their slot in Rwanda but Opong says that they target a place in top two.
“We want to finish in top two in our group,” Opong told his club Saskatchewan Rattlers.
“We want to win as many games as we can.”
Opong averaged 19 points, four rebounds and 2.7 assists in Alexandria.
He shot 7/12 from beyond the arc against Morocco as Uganda ran away 94-90 victors.
On his outstanding performance against Morocco, he stated: “At the end of the game I went to the bench, that’s when I realized I had a good game. During the game I didn’t feel it. I was busy trying to make plays defensively and lost track of individual stats. I was just trying to win a game.”
He says that representing Uganda “feels like playing for something bigger and special.”
Opong is among the foreign based players set to make Silverbacks squad for the forthcoming window.
The local based players started training last week at Africa Bible University in Lubowa under coach Mande Juruni.
The Silverbacks have played at the Afrobasket in the last two editions – 2015 and 2017.
