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American influence not enough to save chaotic Cape Town Tigers’ BAL season

American influence not enough to save chaotic Cape Town Tigers' BAL season

The Cape Town Tigers can hold their heads high after defying expectations at the Basketball Africa League [BAL], but a lack of cohesion on and off the court cost them a chance to progress further than the quarterfinals.

Teething problems with administration, and internal disagreements among coaches and players alike, meant a star-studded team was never able to realise its full potential, and even reaching the Playoffs in Kigali was unexpected.

The Tigers were only founded by American company Severus LLC, fronted by businessman and former player Raphael Edwards, in late 2019, right before COVID-19 struck South Africa. With this in mind, making the BAL quarterfinals at the first attempt was nothing short of a miracle.

READ: Everything you need to know about the BAL

On paper, given Edwards and co’s dollars and the raft of American players rotating in and out of the team, they should have fielded a very strong side in every game, with a natural flow borne of most of the team being raised on US courts, and playing at fairly high levels.

However, head coach Relton Booysen was left with a lingering sense of dissatisfaction after their whopping 106-67 quarterfinal defeat to US Monastir in Kigali, and echoed complaints he’d made in Cairo during the Nile Conference that the players, perhaps looking to shine for NBA scouts, were too individual in their efforts.

“I’m walking away with satisfaction in how far we came in the competition, but I’m not satisfied with the performance because I want to win, and I feel that we have the necessary skill and talent to win, but the guys [didn’t execute] the game plan,” he said.

“Everyone was doing their own thing, but as I said, we will work on that and come back better.”

Booysen was the official head coach for the BAL, but Edwards also played a role in…

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