JT Jaguars head coach Sudi Ulanga chose honesty over hype after his side edged KCCA Panthers 51–49 in a tense National Basketball League opener at the JT Jaguars Den in Kira on Saturday night.
The win was secured, but Ulanga was quick to admit it was far from convincing. For long stretches, he felt his team was second best and survived more on grit than quality.
“I think we just stole the win from KCCA Panthers,” Ulanga said. “They were better than us. We struggled a lot, especially on offense.”
The Jaguars endured a rough night with the ball, turning it over repeatedly and allowing KCCA to dictate the tempo.
“I think we had about 26 or 27 turnovers,” he added. “It’s very hard to win games when you give the ball away that many times. My biggest problem wasn’t defense, it was offense.”
That lack of fluency showed early. JT Jaguars managed only 20 points in the first half and trailed 21–20 at the break, in a game driven more by defensive pressure than attacking flow.
“We can’t play 20 minutes and score only 20 points,” Ulanga said. “Defensively we were okay, but that kind of scoring is not acceptable.”
The pattern continued after the restart. The Jaguars picked up timely defensive stops but failed to build any offensive rhythm.
“In the second half we got stops, but we still kept giving the ball away,” Ulanga noted. “Still, the fact that you can play that badly and win is a positive.”
Ulanga praised KCCA Panthers for their aggressive zone defense, particularly for a season opener.
“If a team brings that kind of aggression in the first game, it’s not easy,” he said. “I don’t even know where they got that level of fitness from, so credit to them.”
He also pointed to early-season rust as a wider issue across the league.
“It’s the first game and players are still rusty,” he explained. “You could see it in other games too. It was tough.”
Despite the flaws, Ulanga believes the narrow win can provide a platform to build on.
“It’s just the first game,” he said. “We’ll fix our offense and cut down on turnovers. We have new players, and the goal is to keep improving so we’re much better by the time we reach the playoffs.”
His priorities are clear: better ball movement, attacking the basket, and improved shooting.
“We stayed on the perimeter too much,” Ulanga said. “We didn’t shoot the three well and we struggled from the free-throw line. Those are things we must correct.”
On the court, individual efforts helped the Jaguars scrape through. Were Mark led the scoring with 12 points and four rebounds, Chol Dut delivered a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Peter Sifuma added 10 points and eight rebounds.
