Al Ahly coach Agusti Julbe Bosch says Zamalek win in Season One was much easier

Al Ahly's Ehab Amin directing traffic in the final against AS Douanes /COURTESY PICTURE

BAL Al Ahly coach Agusti Julbe Bosch says Zamalek win in Season One was much easier

Ndyamuhaki J Emanzi 13:23 - 29.05.2023

The 51-year-old has already made history as the first coach to win the BAL title twice, and with two different teams.

Al Ahly ended the Basketball Africa League season with a 7-1 record and defeated AS Douanes in the final to lift the title.

It is the second time a team from Egypt is lifting the trophy, and there has been one man responsible for the two wins.

Augusti Julbe Bosch was Zamalek's head coach when the team defeated US Monastir 76-63 in the Season One final in Kigali, Rwanda.

The Spaniard has since switched to rival side Al Ahly and gone on to help the club to the 2023 BAL title.

Asked about the trick for the two Egyptian sides to win two of the first three editions, Julbe told the press that the two seasons won by the two Egyptian sides were totally different.

"I think this championship is different than the first one with Zamalek," Julbe said after Al Ahly's 80-65 pummeling of AS Douanes.

"Maybe Season One I would say that not all the teams were prepared or understood what it is to play a championship like this.

"Maybe it's only three or four teams that were really competitive at the highest level, and we came out with the win."

Al Ahly had to wait until Season Three to make their debut after being locked out by rivals Zamalek in the first two seasons.

But after winning the title in their debut season, Al Ahly will be in the next season, having won the league title before travelling to Kigali for the BAL Playoffs.

"I think, honestly, that the level of basketball this season is way higher," Julbe added.

The 51-year-old has already made history as the first coach to win the BAL title twice, and with two different teams.

"We have a Board of Directors, we are big club, club with a big history not only in soccer but other sports. We have this support to try to bring together the best team possible.

"We have six or seven players who regularly make the national team, and we had really good additions in Nuni (Omot), Michael (Thompson) and Corey (Webster)."

Augusti Julbe Bosch became the first coach to win the Basketball Africa League title twice /COURTESY PICTURE

Al Ahly's only loss in the BAL came during the Nile Conference action, a buzzer-beater by Lukeny Gonçalves handing Petro de Luanda a 91-90 win in Cairo.