Kenya Ports Authority need to train together for long a period If they are to make a mark in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) again, according to coach Anthony Ojukwu.
KPA were bundled out of the BAL show in Johannesburg, South Africa on Thursday after losing all their three preliminary matches.
He said despite the team's failure to progress in the Elite 16, they have gained valuable experience and will return to the competition next year.
"The players need to stay together and practice together for the longest time possible to be able to make a mark in this event," offered Ojukwu.
"I've talked to fellow coaches here and what I've learned from them is that they have had long periods in training."
Ojukwu said the team will go all out to win the Kenya National Basketball League (KNBL) again this year to represent the country.
"We didn't make it to the next phase of the competition, but we will surely return next year. We want to own BAL," Ojukwu said.
KPA were the only one to have lost all three Group A matches played at the Ellis Park Arena. They lost 84-69 to NBA Academy Senega, 72-53 to Urunani of Burundi and 96-72 to Cape Town Tigers of South Africa.
However, Ojukwu said it was a good outing for the team with lots of lessons learned and experience gained. It was their second outing.
Urunani beat Tigers 59-49 to top Group A. Both teams made the semi-finals while City Oilers (Uganda) and Ferroviario da Beira (Mozambique) qualified from Group B.
The finalists and the third-placed teams from the Johannesburg show will book their tickets to the 2023 edition of the BAL.
Teams that have already qualified are- reigning Champions Monastir (Tunisia), Al Ahly (Egypt), AS Douness (Senegal), Petronde Luanda (Angola).
Rwanda Energy Group (Rwanda), Kwara Falcons (Nigeria), SLAC (Guinee), Abidjan Basketball Club (Ivory Coast) and Stade Malien (Mali).
