Basketball truly at home in SA as Africa league tips off

The shot clock above the rim was winding down; six seconds ... five ... four … “Shoot, Shoot!” implored the majority of the Sunbet Arena crowd as the 2.20m tall David Craig, dribbling the ball with his right hand, backed into the 2.21m Hasheem Thabeet.

Craig, a behemoth, who represents the Johannesburg Giants in the Basketball Africa League (BAL), which tipped off on Friday, continued bumping into Thabeet from Tanzania, who represents Dar City.

Eventually Craig would spin, his right arm moving in a slow arc, the ball leaving his hand, then hitting the rim of the basket and deflecting out of bounds.

“Aargh, come on man, F***!” many fans responded.

There is no mistaking the passion for basketball. The audience was overwhelmingly young, decked out in baggy jeans, oversized T-shirts, sneakers that cost way too much, and a variety of caps. The jerseys of NBA teams, including the Chicago Bulls, the Golden State Warriors and LA Lakers, were ubiquitous.

The business of basketball and the culture of the sport are expensive. This year, the BAL, in trying to grow its team’s brands, has set up stalls selling replica shirts (R800), hoodies (R1,400), jackets (R1,200) and caps (R500). There’s a fan zone outside the arena with various activations, including a half court for three-on-three games, which was a popular spot, as was the variety of shooting games, along with an exercise to see if you can jump as high as LeBron James.

The BAL clearly has a good product, and it’s obvious, based on how people want to interact with that brand, why the NBA wants the sport in South Africa.

Six teams are competing in the Kalahari Conference in Tshwane, with the top four qualifying along with four other squads from the Sahara Conference — to be played in Rabat, Morocco, next month — for the finals in Kigali, Rwanda, at the end of May.

The opening night started off energetically. The Giants scored first through their captain, Pieter Prinsloo, who at 2.08m, looks average compared to Craig and Thabeet. Sadly, however, that was the only time the Giants led. It lasted all of 12 seconds.

The rest of the first quarter was a nightmare. Three times the home team were called for travelling (holding the ball without dribbling for more than two steps), halfway through that period they had conceded more fouls — four — than scored points — two.

After Prinsloo, who said ahead of the game he had wanted his team to put on a show for the home fans, it was the Tanzanians who were pulling off eye-catching moves, lobs that led to dunks, stylish three-pointers, they were dapping up teammates on the bench and smiling at the handful of Dar City fans, who were making a racket as the home fans were reduced to groans.

“We had a terrible first quarter,” moaned Giants coach Florsheim Ngwenya.

And despite that, no one left. When the horn sounded to end the game, with Dar City victorious by 100-70, the arena was still largely full.

“It looks bad, it’s a 30-point blow out,” said Ngwenya. “Nothing is broken, it’s the first game.”

Prinsloo was aware it is up to his team to give back. “We expected the crowd to be great. Obviously a performance like that on opening night is disappointing. We can only ask that they come out again [today] and support us.”

The Giants face Nairobi City Thunder at 6pm.

The action continues for the remainder of the week and concludes next Sunday, by which time the Giants, a new team with an average age of 25, hope to be among the top four.