Sports
UMARU Mohammed, coach of Kanem Queens Basketball Club, says his players lost all their games in the first round of the 2019 Zenith Bank Women Basketball League due to inexperience.
Mohammed told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja that his players lacked the required experience, even though that was their second time in the league.
“It is unfortunate that we lost all our five games in the first round played in Abuja, but it was still a better performance than what we had last year when we made our debut in the competition.
“We were able to score 20 to 30 points in our games, even though we lost them all. But it was alright in a sense,’’ he said.
The coach however lamented that most of his players had injuries which contributed to their poor performance in the competition.
“This poor performance was largely due to inexperience in the league, no doubt, and I think the players have a long way to go. But almost all the players in my club had injuries which contributed to their poor performance,” he said.
Mohammed added that he now needed to strengthen the team ahead of the league’s second round later in the year.
“We need to work more on the attackers and the defenders. They need to think fast whenever they possess the ball, and they also need to communicate with each other during the game,” he said.
The coach however urged the Borno government to invest more in the club so that the team would have a better performance in the next round of the league.
“The state government has been giving us the necessary support we need, financially, materially and morally, but we want them to do more,’’ he said.
NAN reports that a total of 27 clubs competed in the first round of the 2019 Zenith Bank Women Basketball League which ended on Thursday.
The League will see 218 matches to be played in the two conferences —- Savannah and Atlantic.
In the first round which ended on Thursday, 144 matches were played with the top four in each division going into the second stage.
-NAN
BE
– Aug. 5, 2019 @ 19:15 GMT |
Tags: Kanem Queens coach says My players lost to inexperience at Zenith Bank women basketball league
