While reviewing their defeat on Sunday to Petro de Luanda in the Basketball Africa League, Cape Town Tigers head coach Florsheim Ngwenya and team captain Lebesa Selepe did not mask their frustrations.
Rectifying slow starts, putting high intensity into defence and individuals improving their points tally were the areas that needed fixing in their next game on Tuesday (7pm).
This is against FUS Rabat who are the only unbeaten team in the tournament, with their second win having come by default after Dynamo forfeited the game.
Despite having home court advantage and being rallied by another packed Sunbet Arena crowd in Pretoria which included SA celebrities such as Pearl Thusi, Sho Madjozi and Priddy Ugly the Tigers once again could not put smiles on faces with a positive result.
They lost their opening game to Dynamo of Burundi the previous day.
And in their second game of the Kalahari Conference, they lost 100-88 to Petro de Luanda.
Petro’s triple-digit score was the seventh registered in the BAL..
Getting quickly out of the starting blocks was again an achilles heel for the Tigers.
They shot less than 30% of their field goal, jump shots and three pointers in the first quarter compared with the visitors who had a more than 60% overall ratio and had a 31-14 lead at the end of the first 10 minutes.
“The slow starts are something that we have been addressing and will again do so going into the FUS Rabat game,” Ngwenya said.
“We kind of dug a hole for ourselves, I think if we start better against Rabat, we should have a better result.”
The Tigers fought back in the second quarter, with Billy Preston, Ngor Manyang and Samkelo Cele once again the leading scorers to close the deficit to five points heading to half time.
But other than Cartier Diarra and Nkosinathi Sibanyoni, the other Tigers players could not put their hands up to help out in the points column in the third and fourth stanzas of the game.
They had four players, including Selepe, who did not register a single point in the game.
“I don’t think it is a concern, honestly speaking, I think we are taking good shots but not converting.
“We are playing in an arena we are not accustomed to which we will eventually get used to, we know everybody from this team can score, it is the defence that is the concern,” Selepe said.
Despite getting a triple-digit win, Petro coach José Neto was far from being satisfied with his team’s performance.
Player of the game Carlos Morais, Glofate Buiamba, Markeith Cummings, Yanick Moreira, Aboubacar Gakou and Jone Pedro all pitched up on the night, something that Neto had called for from his team after the FUS Rabat defeat in their opener.
After having a quiet game against the Moroccans, the players finished in double figures versus the Tigers.
“It’s the first win in the tournament — very important for us,” Neto said.
“We want to qualify for the finals. Winning at this moment is very important.
“We need to play better,” Neto said.
DispatchLIVE
Tigers need to be quick out of starting blocks against FUS Rabat
Image: LEFTY SHIVAMBU
While reviewing their defeat on Sunday to Petro de Luanda in the Basketball Africa League, Cape Town Tigers head coach Florsheim Ngwenya and team captain Lebesa Selepe did not mask their frustrations.
Rectifying slow starts, putting high intensity into defence and individuals improving their points tally were the areas that needed fixing in their next game on Tuesday (7pm).
This is against FUS Rabat who are the only unbeaten team in the tournament, with their second win having come by default after Dynamo forfeited the game.
Despite having home court advantage and being rallied by another packed Sunbet Arena crowd in Pretoria which included SA celebrities such as Pearl Thusi, Sho Madjozi and Priddy Ugly the Tigers once again could not put smiles on faces with a positive result.
They lost their opening game to Dynamo of Burundi the previous day.
And in their second game of the Kalahari Conference, they lost 100-88 to Petro de Luanda.
Petro’s triple-digit score was the seventh registered in the BAL..
Getting quickly out of the starting blocks was again an achilles heel for the Tigers.
They shot less than 30% of their field goal, jump shots and three pointers in the first quarter compared with the visitors who had a more than 60% overall ratio and had a 31-14 lead at the end of the first 10 minutes.
“The slow starts are something that we have been addressing and will again do so going into the FUS Rabat game,” Ngwenya said.
“We kind of dug a hole for ourselves, I think if we start better against Rabat, we should have a better result.”
The Tigers fought back in the second quarter, with Billy Preston, Ngor Manyang and Samkelo Cele once again the leading scorers to close the deficit to five points heading to half time.
But other than Cartier Diarra and Nkosinathi Sibanyoni, the other Tigers players could not put their hands up to help out in the points column in the third and fourth stanzas of the game.
They had four players, including Selepe, who did not register a single point in the game.
“I don’t think it is a concern, honestly speaking, I think we are taking good shots but not converting.
“We are playing in an arena we are not accustomed to which we will eventually get used to, we know everybody from this team can score, it is the defence that is the concern,” Selepe said.
Despite getting a triple-digit win, Petro coach José Neto was far from being satisfied with his team’s performance.
Player of the game Carlos Morais, Glofate Buiamba, Markeith Cummings, Yanick Moreira, Aboubacar Gakou and Jone Pedro all pitched up on the night, something that Neto had called for from his team after the FUS Rabat defeat in their opener.
After having a quiet game against the Moroccans, the players finished in double figures versus the Tigers.
“It’s the first win in the tournament — very important for us,” Neto said.
“We want to qualify for the finals. Winning at this moment is very important.
“We need to play better,” Neto said.
DispatchLIVE
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