Nairobi — Nairobi City Thunder head coach Brad Ibs says his side's confidence of clinching the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) men's Premier League title is now a massive percentage higher, but says they know it will not come easy against defending champions Kenya Ports Authority (KPA).
Thunder, unbeaten thus far in the league, made it to the final after sweeping away Equity Dumas 3-0 in the best of five semi-final series and hope they can do the same against the dockers, who also made it to the final after a clean sweep over Strathmore University.
"I am so glad we are now done with these guys (Equity). They are a real problem for us and I am always nervous when we play against them. It is not just how they organize themselves, but also the fact that they are a massively talented team," Thunder's head coach Brad Ibs said of the Dumas after seeing them off 77-54 in game three of the finals on Saturday night.
Thunder outplay and outsmart Equity
Thunder had led 2-0 after the first two games a fortnight ago, and Equity needed to win game three on Saturday to claw back some hope of pushing for the final.
However, they were outplayed and outsmarted by Thunder, who beat them by the biggest margin this season. In game one, Thunder had won by half a basket while they had won by three points in game two. In the regular season as well, Thunder had to sweat it out to beat the bankers.
However, on Saturday, they were head and shoulders above Equity especially in the last two quarters when the bankers seemed to have absolutely deflated and lost all hope.
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Dumas had led 13-11 at the end of the first quarter but saw the lead change hands at halftime, Thunder leading 298-26. Upon resumption, coach Ibs' side went all out offensive.
Equity's fight in vain
Thunder were unplayable and their swift rotations were a problem for the bankers. With 2:35 to go in quarter three, Thunder were 17 points up and that went to 21 points at the end.
In the fourth quarter, it was one way traffic and coach Ibs could even afford to rotate his team after two minutes, looking to keep everyone fresh. At the end, with 35 seconds left, on the break, Thunder put a brilliant end to the duel with Albert Odero's dunk bringing the house down.
Equity's influential guard Eugene Adera was playing injured and despite being on the court for only 26 minutes managed 15 points and four rebounds. The bankers also missed the services of South Sudanese Marol Achei who was out injured.
Thunder strong on the boards
Achei's absence was hugely felt especially on the boards where Thunder were completely dominant.
Thunder skipper Griffin Ligare put on a sensational performance with 19 points and nine rebounds to his stats, with Garang Ding (14) and Fidel Okoth (11) also chalking double digit figures in the win.
Coach Ibs knows it will not be easy against KPA, but believes his side has what it takes to go all the way and win.
"It will be tough definitely because they have proved they are hard to beat on home court. We start on the road, something which I believe should change because we won the regular season, but nevertheless we go down there seeking to have a good game and win," said the coach.
