City Oilers and the double-big line up

Are big men en vogue in modern basketball? In the grand scheme of things, they are but how they are employed makes their appeal obvious.

Over the past decade of City Oilers’ dominance, the National Basketball League has been dominated by big men, with Kami Kabange, Landry Ndikumana, James Okello, and Titus Lual all named MVPs.

With the rise of “small ball”, which by the way could be a misnomer for “skill ball”, over the same period, some teams leaned towards doing away with big players. But when you look closely, the big players being sidelined were those who lacked sound fundamental skills of the game.

So, without putting much thought into it, basketball is fundamentally still a sport where the tallest players have a natural advantage over the shorter ones, which means if a player’s skill can catch up to their height, then playing two bigs together can create lots of problems for the opponents as Kabange and Okello as well as Ndikumana and Okello did while at City Oilers.

Enter the 2025 season, Lual is injured and coach Andrew Tendo has to look to Rogers Dauna and Bolton Rujumba but they are both short on skills and their processors are slower than the Pentium 4.

For fear of what could have been, the Oilers looked elsewhere in the midseason, recalling Moses Maker who helped the side secure a playoff spot. Along “Big Mo” came Kurt Wegscheider but the Central African Republic big man could only get in for the playoffs.

The Oilers scrapped to a 2-0 series sweep against JT Jaguars and took on the freshers Sommet in the second round.

There was a lot to like from City Oilers series win against Sommet, from Ben Komakech’s emergence off the bench to Edgar Munaba picking up right where he left off. The defense wasn’t good, but there aren’t many expectations for a team that has struggled on that end of the floor all season.

However, one aspect of the series run caught my attention. It was one that many fans (who understand the game) were probably not keen on and I would like to shed a light on—the pairing of Kurt Wegscheider and Moses Maker to form part of the starting front court.

There is something symbolic about a team’s starting lineup. It may not represent who the team actually is or who it wants to be, but more often than not, it surely can represent a stylistic declaration. We have, in the past, seen Oilers starting three guards in their line-up, something that their finals opponents, the Nam Blazers, picked up more this season.

Oilers’ offense was on fire, particularly in Games 3 and 5, with Maker aggressive in the midpost as his partner, Wegscheider, hoovered at the perimeter for a drive and delivered even on transition.

At the defensive end, Maker covers Wegschedier’s limitations as a rim-protector. Playing the two of them together elevates City Oilers’ offensive rebounding and their movement in the half-court waters down the notion that playing two bigs stifles spacing.

While many will be lost in the emotional and physical battle of Jimmy Enabu, Tony Drileba, Ivan Muhwezi, and James Okello against their former pay masters, the series will see all three of the Oilers centers available at the same time. The Oilers could start games with Kurt Wegscheider playing next to Moses Maker. Meanwhile, Titus Lual will most likely come off the bench.

At some point in games, coach Stephen Nyeko may also need to employ a double-big lineup that has two of James Okello, Michael Makiadi and Anthony Chukwurah to match what the City Oilers put out in Maker and Wegscheider because Oilers’ double-big lineup will make things difficult on the smaller lineup in some stretches.

The best-of-seven finals start on Friday, October 24, at Lugogo Indoor Stadium.