Kuany makes a return
Basketball players are judged by their points, rebounds and assists. If you are not getting enough of those, you are unlikely to find much playing time come game day. At the Longhorns Basketball Club in Victoria, those parts of the game are important, but they are not the be all and end all. Taipans rookie Kuany Kuany (above) is one of the success stories of the Longhorns program, which was established in February 2003 by Manyang Berberi.
BASKETBALL players are judged by their points, rebounds and assists.
If you are not getting enough of those, you are unlikely to find much playing time come game day.
At the Longhorns Basketball Club in Victoria, those parts of the game are important, but they are not the be all and end all.
Taipans rookie Kuany Kuany is one of the success stories of the Longhorns program, which was established in 2003 by Manyang Berberi, and has produced fringe-NBA forward Mangok Mathiang and Deng Deng, who played at Texas in the NBA D-League.
The Longhorns’ gym is based at Braybrook College, located in the northwest of Melbourne, and draws in players from the western suburbs including Derrimut, where Kuany first lived in Australia.
The first-year Snake is a role model for the celebrated junior basketball club, which caters for South Sudanese junior players and helps take them off the streets, according to Berberi.
“He is a better person than he is a player,” Berberi said.
“That is what we value at Longhorns, it is not all about basketball but going to school and learning.
“He was a very good student and then on top of that, he was always in the gym at 5.30am.
“It is not just being about the game, it is all aspects of life, listening to coaches, following the game plan, working within a system and the time schedule.”
The Taipans play their first two games of the NBL Blitz in Traralgon, 163km east of Melbourne, this week before they make the trip across town to play in Kuany’s backyard of Werribee on Sunday afternoon against Brisbane.
The first-year pro has battled a lower leg complaint in his first preseason, sporting a moon boot until recently, but before the team departed Snakes coach Aaron Fearne said the 22-year-old would see court time across the Blitz.
Berberi said Kuany’s rebounding and sense of the game were his main features as a promising junior.
“His work ethic was what stood out, all his peers will tell you that is what was unrivalled about him,” Berberi said.
“He was a great example to the younger guys in the Melbourne basketball scene and the South Sudan community will be out to see him this weekend.
“We are really happy about the progress that he has made in his college career at Chaminade and we are really excited he got an opportunity with Cairns. “I am sure a good number of guys from the club will get out and watch his game. The Taipans play the second game of the Blitz tomorrow morning against Illawarra.