Fiery playoffs ahead as Nakuball teams gear up for battle!

The countdown is officially on for the highly anticipated Nakuru Basketball League playoffs.

Now, all the teams are laser focused in making sure they get to see the next round of play and be crowned this year’s champions.

During the regular season we have seen some very competitive games in both the men and women categories. A mixture of impressive plays, highlight moments and buzzer beating shots made the match days all the more intriguing.

With the current standings, Rift Valley National Polytechnic (Rockets) stand as the league leaders with their place in the playoffs almost guaranteed. 

The team which brought in some new players coming into this season seems to have stepped up their style of play and proved to be almost unstoppable. According to the current team standing, the Rockets which has played 18 games have only lost two of those matches.

The women’s teams is also leading in their category. They have only lost seven of their 16 games played, but closely following them are the Kabarak University Royals with 24 points.

Speaking to Mtaa Wangu Amos Rotich, the coach of the RVNP teams says that he had a very slow start at the beginning of the season, however as the match days kept progressing his teams started getting their rhythm.

“Comparing the last season to this one, this season has been very competitive. At the same time, some of those players I was with finished their studies and moved away. I was forced to recruit a new batch of players but all in all now we are better,” he says.

The coach says that this year he is hoping his team will be crowned champions.

“I have lost two finals already, as we go into the playoffs I am also looking to win my first title and I will do all that I can to win. This season we have had a compilation of good teams, from Kabarak University, KITI Titans and MKU all of whom have offered us some very competitive matches,” he adds.

The Nakuru Basketball Academy which came in as underdogs in the competition have also proven that they are a force to be reckoned with, especially noting that most of those in the team are teenagers. Their coach, Benson Okwema says that he is very impressed with his team's performance.

“Throughout the season I have had a challenge with regards to availability of players, especially with the fact that most of them are in high school, but with the few who have showed up in different match days we have been having, they performed exemplary well and they have put us on the verge of going into the playoffs,” he says.

The coach is also very hopeful of seeing his team make it to the playoffs.

The final match day of the regular season will take place next weekend, with all teams hoping to progress to the next stage.