Africa-Press – Angola. Petro de Luanda begins the defense of the title this Saturday (29), at 18:00, on the ISPETC court, when they face Casa Pessoas do Porto do Lobito, in a scoring challenge for the third round of the National Senior Men’s Basketball Championship.
After the absence in the first two rounds, motivated by the pre-competitive stage, in South Africa, with a view to the dispute of the third edition of the Basketball Africa League, the national champion will face a relatively easy opponent.
With the team at its maximum strength, the objective is to start the competition with victory, a claim that is not in question, as the potential of the tricolors justify such a purpose.
In the press conference to preview the game later, coach José Neto assured that the team will be in top form, regardless of the opponent’s level.
“I won’t spare any player. It’s the first game of the season, the important thing is to start winning and keep the expectation of winning the National Championship”, said the Brazilian nationality coach who expects difficulties to be imposed by the opponent.
José Neto recalled the trajectory made by ASA last season. He was considered an outsider at the start of the season and ended up in third position, after getting the better of 1o de Agosto who placed himself in the immediate position, against all odds.
And not to be surprised, the coach wants to go all out in defense of the title with no room for the opponent to create any discomfort throughout the match.
In classic B
Carlos da Mata’s 20 points were insufficient to avoid the first defeat of 1o de Agosto B, against Petro B, by 88-80, yesterday, at the ISPTEC Pavilion, in a scoring challenge for the third round of the Senior Men’s National Championship Basketball.
The satellite teams of the most titled clubs in the sport, sought to dignify the colors of their emblems, but Manuel Silva “Gi”‘s men very soon gave a sign of wanting to guarantee the two points in dispute.
She was always more assertive in her movements, both in offensive and defensive transitions, and ball circulation was essential to open up an advantage in the first quarter. However, the military sought to balance, but the pretension did not last long.
The Eixo-Viário team won the first 12 minutes, strictly timed, by a difference of six points (27-21). From then on, Gi’s pupils were irreproachable, with better tactical reading, taking advantage of every mistake made by the opponent.
At half-time, the most expressive advantage favored the tricolors (51-38). In the restart, 1o de Agosto opted for individual moves and many times they were not successful.
Players in position one and two took the shot, which was sometimes unsuccessful when they had a free-marking teammate who was more likely to finish the attack on point.
The substitutions and time-outs requested by the technical team, did little or nothing for the military team, which once again came out at a disadvantage in the third quarter, this time by 71-58.
In the last stage of the game, there was a certain competitive slowdown on the part of the oil workers, who started to play less synchronized. This posture allowed the reds and blacks to reduce the disadvantage below the double digits (88-80), at the end of the match.
The athlete of 1o de Agosto, Cristiano Xavier was the MVP with 20 points on the tricolor side.
The game was marked by the ineffectiveness of the scoreboard, which, in a way, made it difficult to read the incidents of the match. The technicians were obliged to go to the commissioners’ table to get an idea of the result.
However, a person in charge of Petro de Luanda’s management assured Jornal de Angola that the situation will be resolved today, before the main team’s challenge, scheduled for the beginning of the night.
Today they play Desportivo Kwanza-ASA (2:30 pm), Interclube-Akira (6:00 pm), 1o de Agosto B-1o de Agosto (6 pm), Vila Clotilde-Petro B and Inter B-Amigos de Benguela.
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