Capetown Zulu

Team Season Records

Bermuda Bombers

Season 2: 27-53 (Out of Playoffs)

Season 3: 5-75 (Out of Playoffs)

Season 4: 19-51 (Out of Playoffs)

Cape Town Bandits

Season 5: 20-50 (Out of Playoffs)

Season 6: 8-72 (Out of Playoffs)

Season 7: 47-33 #5 Seed

Season 8: 43-37 #6 Seed

Season 9: 49-31 #5 Seed

Cape Town Zulus

Season 10: 56-24 #5 Seed

Season 11: 58-22 #3 Seed

Season 12: 60-20 #4 Seed

Team Playoff Records

Season 7: Loss to Cancun 4-3 in 2nd Round

Season 8: Loss to Oregon 3-2 in 1st Round

Season 9: Loss to Colorado 3-2 in 1st Round

Season 10: Loss to Cancun 3-1 in 1st Round

Season 11: Loss to Cancun 4-0 in 1st Round

Season 12: Loss to Cancun 4-1 in 2nd Round

Bermuda Bombers

Season 2 Leaders:

Points per game: John Ferguson (19.6)

Rebounds per game: John Ferguson (9.9)

Assists per game: Bill Owens (4.7)

Season 3 Leaders:

Points per game: Al Wood (13)

Rebounds per game: Benjamin Myers (6.9)

Assists per game: Al Wood (6.6)

Season 4 Leaders:

Points per game: Clifton Banko (20.1)

Rebounds per game: Keith Chambers (6.9)

Assists per game: Bubba Hennessy (6.4)

Cape Town Bandits

Season 5 Leaders:

Points per game: Clifton Banko (18)

Rebounds per game: Chaim Sowders (6)

Assists per game: Jeff Bailey (4.3)

Season 6 Leaders:

Pointers per game: Bucky McCarty (18)

Rebounds per game: Jack Spiegel (7.4)

Assists per game: Bucky McCarty (3.7)

Season 7 Leaders:

Points per game: Obafemi Mabruke (23)

Rebounds per game: Obafemi Mabruke (11)

Assists per game: Dexter Kodak (7.9)

Season 8 Leaders:

Points per game: Obafemi Mabruke (19.9)

Rebounds per game: Obafemi Mabruke (9.4)

Assists per game: Chuck Henderson (11.4)

Season 9 Leaders:

Points per game: Obafemi Mabruke (21.1)

Rebounds per game: Obafemi Mabruke (10.3)

Assists per game: Chuck Henderson (9.9)

Cape Town Zulus

Season 10 Leaders:

Points per game: Obafemi Mabruke (23.5)

Rebounds per game: Obafemi Mabruke (10.5)

Assists per game: Chuck Henderson (9)

Season 11 Leaders

Points per game: Obafemi Mabruke (19.3)

Rebounds per game: Obafemi Mabruke (10.1)

Assists per game: Kelvin Davidson (6.6)

Season 12 Leaders

Points per game: Abdiel Gordon (23.7)

Rebounds per game: Abdiel Gordon (10.7)

Assists per game: Eric Manning (7.3)

In the Beginning

As the popularity of the WBA began to reach new levels all fingers pointed towards expansion of the league. With WBA executives wanting to capitalize on spreading worldwide and with the surmounting fans in Africa calling for another franchise, Cape Town emerged as the ideal choice. However, interest groups searching for a marketing ploy became infatuated with the phenomena that is the Bermuda Triangle and somehow managed to persuade WBA execs to choose Bermuda over Cape Town. This decision proved disastrous, as the phenomena of unexplained disappearances seemed to follow the franchise. Players would come then disappear, draft picks once present would not be there when it came time for the draft. But these occurrences were not the result of unexplained phenomena but rather the result of the lack of any kind of leadership.

Season 2

The expectations for an expansion team are never set high. Indeed, the WBA media never expected much out of this young franchise. Reports with low expectations were common as was the case in the following source, “This is how I picture an expansion team, very few skilled players, and their star being a rookie. Rod Lawrence, the rookie, has good numbers.... But, he will need lots of help before Bermuda is out of the re-building stage.” Most of the media seemed to agree with this statement, even esteemed reporter Ron Chambers of GSPN was at a loss for words. “Not much to say here. This is an expansion team that will play like an expansion team. Rod Lawrence was a good pick who is playing very well he just doesn't have the support.”

Even with its apparent lack of talent the team competed valiantly racking up 27 wins in its first season. The rookie Rod Lawrence played well putting up 16 points and 8 rebounds in his first season. There were also a few surprises as John Ferguson established himself as one of the team's leaders averaging close to 20 points and 10 rebounds a contest. The future looked bright in Bermuda but this hope wouldn't last, the inaugural season would prove to be the best season Bermuda ever experienced…

Season 3

Season 3 would prove to be a historic season for the Bermuda Bombers. Incompetent management would guide the once hopeful franchise into a downward spiral that would take years to recover from. In an array of questionable moves only conceivable in the mystery that is Bermuda, the teams premier players and future first round picks would disappear from site leaving the team thinner than the soup made from the shadow of a pigeon who had starved to death. After the dust had settled the leftover players managed to make history as the worst team in WBA history with a 5-75 record that has yet to be broken.

The WBA media was all over the Bombers. One source was reported as saying, “When you look down the starting lineup of Bermuda it is a who's who of Nobodyville. Al Wood, Bill Milligan, Benjamin Myers, and Dennis Thomas.” Indeed, the key contributors from the season before had all departed. Offering an insight to Bermuda's peculiar situation one reporter put it like this, “The bottom line is that Bermuda has an old team. And instead of being old and good, as is the case most times, they are old and bad. And that is the worst case scenario to be in.” Management had attempted to deal youth for veterans in hope of a playoff run but in dealing their future away had only acquired mediocre, retiring players. Summing up the pathetic state of the franchise, one reporter emphatically put it like this, “Imagine that an expansion team that was worse in their second season!” Indeed the Bermuda Bombers would be a team facing serious problems for a time to come…

Season 4

After a dismal season 3 the franchise managed take some steps in the right direction almost approaching the level of mediocrity. No longer the cellar dwellers, the franchise managed to rise to the third worst record in the league. The key reason leading to this improvement was the acquisition of Clifton Banko. Another new key contributor was Keith Chambers whose team leading 6.9 rebounds a game helped ease the rate at which Bermuda constantly got out-rebounded. WBA media reports began to ease up on the lowly franchise almost feeling sorry for them, “At least this franchise finally has some talent. They desperately need to improve their rebounding and they need to be able to resign Ed Bryant and Clifton Banko.”

Although slight improvements were made, when a franchise hits rock bottom as in season 3 it is impossible to get any worse and the only way to go was up. It was clear that changes had to be made and thus relocation became the answer, paving the way for our Cape Town Bandits.

Relocation

After being snubbed in season 2 over Bermuda, WBA executives had learned their lesson and made Cape Town the unanimous choice for the site of the newly relocated franchise. The African fans were jubilant. Located on the southern tip of Africa this allowed African fans more chances to watch WBA basketball as the other African franchise, Gabon, is located far away on the western coast of Africa. This proved much safer for South African fans in saving them the treacherous journey through Namibia, Angola and the Congo to catch some WBA action.

Season 5

Having waited so long to have their own team the local fans were just happy to have a team and not much was expected out of Cape Town early in their existence. The teams lack of talent and coaching leadership did not bother the fans and in fact were grateful for each and every win their club produced. This was good because the wins were few and far between having reached only 20 wins that season. The teams leading scorer was once again Clifton Banko with 18 points a game. However, the team possessed several weaknesses, mainly it lacked a true point guard with its leading assist man, Jeff Bailey, being a shooting guard. Furthermore, the team constantly struggled on the boards with Chaim Sowders the teams leading rebounder coming out of the small forward position averaging a meager six rebounds per game. The team had also acquired some hope in the form of rookie center Jack Spiegel.

The team was once again back at square one with a few skilled players and a hopeful rookie in Jack Spiegel. The question was would history repeat itself? Would management learn from mistakes of the past?

Season 6

In season 6 new ownership undertook the Cape Town franchise. However, the new owner was more concerned with going on African safaris than running the team. The fact that the Cape Town franchise was ignored by their owner may have well been the greatest blessing the franchise could have received. This benevolent ignorance proved a worthy substitute for the patience and self-control required in building a winning team.

Although the poorly coached franchise only amassed 8 wins they managed to position themselves for the future by not making any deals that would sacrifice the future as the previous owner had done in Season 2. Although up to this point the Cape Town franchises' existence was pitiable there was some light at the end of the tunnel. The WBA media recognized this when in the ranking of the top franchises Brad Bangerter commented, “Frankly, Cape Town is in bad shape…They will be a bad team this year…If the new ownership can resist taking over priced players from top teams and giving up draft picks and money in exchange, then they will be ok... just not this year.”

Season 7

“Adding Mabruke gives this team an all-star type of player and in my opinion, the favorite to be named rookie of the year. Kodak's addition is also important, as I feel he is one of the most underrated players in the league. If Mabruke plays really well, they could challenge for a playoff spot.”

So were the words professed by the media in entering season 7. The previous seasons' 8-72 record allowed for Cape Town to attain the second pick in the draft. Their were also rumors abound that Cape Town although still officially ran under old management were being secretly run by a friend of the ownership. Some speculate this may have been Kevin Harper the current owner of the Oregon Golden Bears. These two factors contributed greatly to the greatest season to date from the Cape Town Bandits.

After Greg Lacy went #1 in the draft all of Africa went crazy knowing that Africa's own native son, Obafemi Mabruke of Johannesburg South Africa would be playing for the Cape Town Bandits. The transformation of the Cape Town Bandits had begun! Shoring up a weakness at point guard that had plagued the franchise since its inception the team managed to acquire Dexter Kodak in exchange for the now disappointing Jack Spiegel. The draft also wielded two pearls, not only was Mabruke the leading candidate for rookie of the year but second round pick Cole Bayo proved to be an unexpected surprise. To put icing on the cake the team also acquired the rights to power forward and fellow African native Oman Fatafehi. One could only imagine the jubilee in Africa!

With these moves a special season for the Cape Town Bandits was inevitable. Dexter Kodak would make his first All-Star appearance, Oman Fatafehi would make the All-Rookie team and Obafemi Mabruke would win the Rookie of the Year award. The team would also garner a franchise best 47 wins and the first ever playoff berth for Cape Town.

And what a playoffs they were! The first round had the Bandits pitted against the famed Colorado Pioneers. The series went the distance and the young Bandits with three rookies in the starting lineup through fight and determination would prevail over the experienced Pioneers. The Bandits would reach the second round in their first ever trip to the playoffs. The next stop was sunny Cancun. With 59 wins in the regular season the Cancun Outlaws were vying for a championship. Most predicted Cancun to make quick work out of the young Cape Town team but the Bandits never let up and kept fighting to the end taking Cancun to a seventh game. The talent and experience of Cancun proved to be too much to overcome and the magical season would come to an end.

Season 8

After the emotional high that was season 7 the team would have to come back to earth and face the realities of business in the WBA. The team would lose Cole Bayo to free agency, resulting in having to depend on the enigma that is Bucky McCarty. There were no magical moves made during the off-season to compete with the ever-increasing talent level of the WBA, the negative effects from the lack of a true owner were now starting to manifest themselves. However, in a stroke of luck the franchise found a young albeit inexperienced owner in Adrian Arceo who was willing to take the reigns of the team on his shoulders. The new owner did not waste any time and when the opportunity to attain the leagues all time leader in assists and steals presented itself the move was made to acquire this player in Chuck Henderson. A couple more deals were rumored and their was apparently some disagreement between the new owner and the trade committee but the only other deal made was an attempt to shore up the center position by acquiring Zane Rivers. The team finished with a 43 and 27 record which was a let down from last season but good for a #6 seed in the west. In the first round the team faced the Oregon Golden Bears and Kevin Harper the man credited for putting Cape Town on the map. The series was close, going the full distance but Oregon would win decisively in the deciding game.

Season 9

Entering the off-season, the Bandits would seek to fill two gaping holes at shooting guard and center. Holding two first round picks in the rookie draft, the team decided that they could not depend on a rookie to fill either of these holes and accordingly went with the best talent available. The draft then wielded power forward Abdiel Gordon and small forward Josiah Gillies. Two talented and versatile players who although needed to refine their shooting abilities would undoubtedly have an impact down the road.

As free agency loomed the pressures of attaining a starting center and shooting guard would keep rising. Negotiations between Cape Town management and free agent center Zane Rivers seemed to be going nowhere and extra pressure in acquiring a shooting guard was put on the team after the release of Bucky McCarty who the team had grown disenchanted with.

Negotiations with Rivers would come to a halt after Baltimore would make a bid that management felt was too extreme. As luck would have it news came through the sports wire that George Holt had been released by the New York Firestorm. Although having a bad reputation for shot selection, Holt had been a player that had intrigued management since taking over the team. Feeling appreciated, Holt would sign with Cape Town on the first bid and for a cheaper price than it would have cost to get Rivers.

With the center spot solidified the team would have less luck acquiring a shooting guard. Free agency would wield no shooting guard signees and the issue would haunt Cape Town throughout the season. Still the team had many good points to look forward to as Abdiel Gordon began playing especially well in the rookie league, giving the team very good depth at the power forward position. Season forecasters thought of highly of Cape Town as Pat Fullum would state, “Should Cancun have trouble staying healthy, Capetown might just steal the division crown from them. Maybe even if Cancun is healthy they might win it.”

Gene Allen was looking more and more like the teams starter at shooting guard. Although a defensive wonder, Allen had no other skills of merit. The need for a shooting guard was glaring especially as rookie small forward Josiah Gillies was slotted as the teams backup shooting guard to Allen. Reporters constantly pointed out this weakness and Wes Ford would even remark, “If they still need a shooting guard, they should sign me!” More creditable reports remarked, “Shooting guard is the weak link on this team. Allen is a great defender but he doesn't have the natural ability that the other players on the court with him have.”

Even with this weakness the Bandits would go 8-3 in the pre-season and would advance to the championship game of the tournament. As the season commenced the Bandits would hold onto first place of the mid west division but soon the weaknesses of the team would begin to be exploited. The Outlaws would climb back and regain their position by the halfway point of the season. The All-Star game would have Mabruke being named as a reserve and Gordon being named as a reserve to the rookie game.

At this point talks had been finalizing about bringing in veteran shooting guard Pedro Otis to the Bandits. The move was eventually made for Otis and in return the Bandits would deal little used but potentially good players Donovan McCormick, Jerry Bolling and a draft pick. Although the deal was praised by some the effects did not manifest themselves onto the court. The team's play remained basically the same. This was by no means a knock as the Bandits were playing at a high level. In fact the Cape Town franchise was often mentioned as one of the top teams in the west.

It was at this point that rumors began circulating regarding Abdiel Gordon and Oman Fatafehi. With Fatafehi's free agency looming the decision to choose the power forward of the future became a matter of great debate. Abdiel Gordon was reportedly getting a lot of interest from other teams but management hesitated in moving Gordon. Just when a consensus was reached that the team will wait to see how free agency plays out an opportunity to fill a long needed hole presented itself. A trade deadline deal was made sending Oman Fatafehi and Pedro Otis to Budapest in return for All Star shooting guard Jalen Bell. The fans had mixed reactions to the trade but most realized that the deal was inevitable. The team felt confident that Gordon could take over Fatafehi's position and that Bell would help greatly in easing the scoring pressures off of Mabruke.

With the playoffs so close the team did not have much time develop a working chemistry but still the prospects of the new look Bandits was intriguing. Having only played two games together the Bandits were set to face the Colorado Pioneers.

Both the bright spots and the newfound weaknesses were apparent in the series. The first game opened up with a win in Colorado and Gordon's best game of his career with twenty-eight points and eight rebounds. Gordon's potential became evident to all after this game. Cape Town would take the next game also in Colorado and while most predicted the series would be over soon, Samir Sheth of Colorado had other plans. In game three Sheth would go 20-25 and score 47 points in a blowout win over Cape Town. This amazing game turned the tides of the series and Colorado would sweep the rest of the games.

The Bandits were certainly not ready for a playoff run as the addition of Jalen Bell transformed the whole makeup of the team. Still this season saw its share of milestones as the team set a new record for regular season wins with forty-nine and Obafemi Mabruke being named to the All-WBA 2nd team. The potential of the team is apparent but adjustments would have to be made for Cape Town to reach the next level and join the elite of the WBA.

Season 10

Seeking to secure a place among the WBA elite the Bandits embarked on what would become one of the busiest off-seasons in team history. Immediately the team pulled off a surprising trade sending away recently acquired Jalen Bell to Salt Lake City in return for two first round picks. The move secured draft picks and would save 5 million in cap room but the loss of the prolific scorer opened up the recurring hole at shooting guard for the Bandits.

As the draft approached the Bandits managed to pull of a series of deals securing the 7th and 13th overall picks. The Bandits picked up combo guard Evelio Jackson with the 7th and small forward George Bissett at the 13th spot. Draft reviewers praised the selection of Jackson calling it “a big time pick for Cape Town,” but were not impressed with Bissett as he went unranked in the draft experts draft board. Ironically Jackson would eventually be dealt and Bissett kept.

As free agency loomed the Bandits had amassed a considerable amount of spending money and the fate of the franchise lay in their ability to convince free agents to sign with the franchise. In an effort to maximize this effort the Bandits secured the services of Mike Begley in writing a letter informing the league of the benefits in signing with Cape Town. However, as the days progressed the Bandits only managed to secure the services of a few career role players. With a large amount of money left in the bank the free agent talent level became slimmer and slimmer. But as the final day arrived deals started presenting themselves revolving around teams that were tight against the cap and a surprise deal was made with Boston exchanging George Holt with the higher paid and more talented Bill Yeager. With a formidable big man secured, the next point of concern dealt with shooting guard position. After reporting to camp, the young Evelio Jackson did not appear ready to handle the rigors of the WBA and was accordingly dealt for a player who could contribute immediately. That player was former Cancun Outlaw, Scott Lio. After securing a hall of fame caliber center and a shooting guard with championship experience the Bandits were ready to make a run to become an elite team in the WBA.

Before the run would ensue the Bandits had to take care of an issue that had been looming over the owner since taking over. This issue dealt with the team's moniker of the “Bandits.” The name simply had nothing to do with Cape Town and a change was issued in favor of the new team name the Cape Town Zulus. Everyone was happy with this change as the fans now had a team name they could feel a part of and the players had a symbolism to aspire to.

With the revamped lineup and the new team name the excitement to start the season was intense. Fans geared up for what they knew would be the greatest season in Cape Town history as they predicted the number of wins never falling below the 50 win mark; a figure the franchise had never attained. Some fans were even thinking championship. These expectations were validated as the season commenced and Cape Town came off to a hot start. Early in the season the Bandits were 15-4 and tied with Cancun for the best record in the Midwest division. The players were playing excellent and Bill Yeager in particular was leading the Zulu's in scoring at 24 points a game while shooting 55% from the field.

The fans were loving it, eventually the Bandits would sweep division rival Texas causing their owner Gustavo Follana to exclaim “Why me! What have I done to deserve this!!” As the season progressed the Zulu's fought neck and neck with Canun for control of the division and even held the best record in the league during the middle part of the season. This team success led to individual glory as Obafemi Mabruke and Chuck Henderson made their way to the all-star game.

The second half of the season would prove more difficult as the team had the prospect of facing more road games than any other division rivals. To make matters worse Scott Lio would miss 6 games in which the team struggled and the momentum was slow to build up again. To cope with this increased difficulty in scheduling the Zulu's pulled off a trade with Washington acquiring the services of veteran power forward/center Leo Rice in return for T.J. McFarland and Chuck O'rourke. Rice helped the team defensively and the team eclipsed the franchise's best record of 49 wins with a week still left in the season. As the season drew to a close, the Zulu's won the last game of the season with a win over Cancun and ending the season with a franchise best 56 wins.

Coincidentally the first round opponent for the Zulu's would become the three-time champion Cancun Outlaws. The reward for attaining the greatest regular season in Cape Town history was the chance to play underdogs to the leagues only dynasty.

With Cancun struggling late in the season experts predicted the Zulu's pull away with the upset remarking that “this series is tough to call, as any team that wins it could go all the way for the title. My prediction is Cape Town, with more hunger for post-season wins, will end Cancun's dynasty.” The predictions did not stop there as the Zulu's were predicted to beat Texas in the second round and face Colorado in the western finals. As a testament to the unpredictable nature of WBA basketball neither Colorado nor Cape Town would make it past the first round as the Zulu's succumbed to the Outlaws three games to one.

Although the series seemed a decisive and easy victory for Cancun the statistics revealed a much closer battle as the Zulu's played well but in the end only the wins count. The goal early in the season was improvement over the last and with this as the goal the season was a success. The success was due in large part to the maturing play of Obafemi Mabruke who worked hard in off-season conditioning and played in every game for the Zulus. His play garnered him the honored position of being named to the All-WBA first team. Little by little Mabruke and the Zulu's are carving a niche in the league and with the goal as improvement the bar has been set high for the upcoming season only time will tell whether this progress will continue or if the team has already reached the apex.

Season 11

The eleventh season in the World Basketball Association saw many changes for not only the Zulu's but for the entire league in the form of realignment. The talent discrepancy between the Eastern and Western conferences had long been recognized and while the Zulu's pushed for a move to the Eastern conference they nevertheless had to remain in the West due to difficulties in geographic placement. The long desired division rivalry between Cape Town and their African neighbor the Gabon Giants would have to wait for the future.

The changes in regards to the makeup of the team were even more drastic. It was a cruel coincidence that the contracts of both Chuck Henderson and Scott Lio (the starting backcourt) had to expire within the same season. It turned out that both Henderson and Lio's demands were too high for Cape Town management to concede. As a result both tested the free agent waters. Cape Town did not give up on these players but as the market would have it Henderson would sign with Alaska and Lio with his former team, Texas.

Without a starting point guard or shooting guard the team had to think fast for replacements. A trade was soon executed to acquire the services of combo guard, Eric Manning from Salt Lake City. This move would help alleviate the problem but would not completely solve it. As luck would have it the franchise managed to sign a consolation prize in veteran point guard and WBA champion, Kelvin Davidson. However, a hole still remained at shooting guard. In an experimental move the team decided to take its chances on combo forward, Ellis Law and see if he could possibly fill some minutes as a shooting guard.

The team was set to start the season and analysts clearly viewed Cape Town as a legitimate contender. One report commented that, “with the age of Davidson and Yeager Cape Town clearly wants to make a push to win it all this year and they have the talent to do it.” Other reports agreed that the team had improved and that “every year they add pieces to the puzzle and every year they seem to get a little bit better.” Even the legendary Sam Plummer commented that the team that really intrigued him was Capetown, citing that “they could make some serious noise this year.”

The reports vilified themselves early as Cape Town got off to a hot start with the best record in the first week of the season. Although the team could not keep up the pace they still managed a 31-14 record for third place in the West halfway through the season with Obafemi Mabruke earning another starting slot in the all-star game.

It was during this period of the season that two major moves were made in the hopes of improving their chances for the playoffs. First, Bruce Johnson was acquired in a deal sending defensive bulwark Leo Rice to Albacete. This would leave a defensive void in the post but a later move acquiring the veteran center Jim Wilson from Gabon would help alleviate this void. With these moves it was hoped that Capetown could join its place among the WBA elite. The results of the moves produced better results but it seemed that the rest of elite teams had also driven their playing level up a notch. Eventually, the Zulu's would attain a 58-22 record-the best in franchise history. However, the team remained a number 3 seed going into the playoffs.

The first round saw the Zulu's matched up against Sacramento. Although the Zulu's secured an early 2-0 lead, Sacramento would fight back and push the series to five games. Despite winning the decisive game at home, this push by Sacramento would forecast the future troubles in the next series against the perennial powerhouse, Cancun Outlaws. The series was not even close. Cancun capitalized on the Zulu's weakness and completely shut them down with their stifling defense. Cancun swept the series 4-0. It was a sour way to end a season, which had marked the best record in team history. Nevertheless, the overriding goal of improvement was met once again this season. The bar has now been set high and it will be interesting to see if Cape Town can continue to improve as it has since current management has stepped in.

Season 12

It has seemed that up to now the Zulu's had faced rebuilding in one way or another each off-season. This especially held true this season with the retirement of Bruce Johnson and Jim Wilson coupled with the impending free agency of Bill Yeager. With this situation the Zulu's had to act fast in deciding which way to take the franchise. The goal was for the team to both rebuild and improve for next season.

This lofty goal was attempted but not resolved in the draft as the Zulu's traded for a first round pick and selected a project of a point guard in Nathan Jackson. One reporter commented that Jackson was serviceable but far from what the team had hoped for. The next order of business was the crucial free agent period. A replacement guard and center were the top priorities on the list. To address this need the team managed to sign combo guard Dexter Kodak and center Zane Rivers. The team may have overpaid a little to acquire the services of Kodak as one report noted that Kodak's contract was a little too high and a little too long for his age. At this point the team seemed to have rebounded to stay competitive but the changes would not have signified drastic improvement until a surprise move came along.

This surprise move came in the form of a center named Oshodi Bombata who was dealt for forward Ellis Law and a future draft pick. It had been a well established fact that the Zulu's have been interested in acquiring Bombata since he came into the league. However, circumstances prevented this acquisition for three seasons. Cape Town had consistently let Andorra know of their interest and the surprising feature of the deal is that for all these efforts the deal was rumored to have only taken a matter of minutes to finalize. Cape Town finally received the player they had long coveted.

These moves coupled with rumors of the great off-season by Abdiel Gordon gave great hopes for the upcoming season. Early reports commented that Gordon might soon become the best player on the team which was high praise considering that Mabruke was still on the roster. With improvement as the continual goal of the Cape Town Zulu's it seems that they managed to accomplish this goal once again. Many prognosticators saw this as the year that Cape Town finally eclipsed their long time rival, Cancun. One reported commented that the fact that Cape Town seems to have improved while Cancun has remained stagnant this past off-season. Others commented that this is a very dangerous team and is probably the only other team other than Oregon and Cancun that would represent the West in the finals.

The only problem that analysts saw that could hurt this team was turnovers. One analyst commented that “Everyone knows that defense wins championships. The problem is that if they face Oregon or Cancun in the playoffs, these teams will take advantage of their weakness. That is really the only thing that separates Cape Town from the other two. They are still a very dangerous team and I wouldn't want to face this team in the playoffs.” These words would prove prophetic.

As the season progressed Cape Town held the best record in the league. However, too many they did not receive much respect and one article addressing this was even titled “Cape Town Deserves Respect.” The season saw a couple changes for the team. The emergence of Abdiel Gordon as an MVP caliber player saw the transfer of franchise player from Mabruke to Gordon. This transition did not cause much friction between the team as the team finished with a franchise best sixty wins. It was unfortunate that the best regular season in Cape Town history would result in a fourth seed and a playoff matchup against the upset makers, Budapest.

The series was as close and exciting as a series can get. After losing both games on the home court by narrow margins of victory Cape Town managed to fight back and win both games in Budapest. A final deciding game was played on the home court and Cape Town managed to squeak by in overtime. This win pulled a large monkey off the back of Cape Town as they finally reached the second round of the playoffs since current management took over. But up next was the dreaded rival Cancun. Things seemed to be going different after the first game with Cape Town stealing a game in Cancun's floor. However, the team would go on to lose four straight. It was a disappointing way to go down especially considering the loss of a key player on Cancun's squad. But when viewed with perspective the season marked another milestone with a franchise best in wins and marks continued improvement for the franchise. The goal for next season will continue to be improvement, through all means necessary.