12 March 2013
RWANDA : Owour Ready for 'War' in Game Three
Despite trailing by two games and one game way from losing the best of five basketball league Playoff final series, APR coach Cliff Owour remains optimistic going into Game Three against rivals Espoir on Saturday at Amahoro Indoor Stadium court.
The former champions need to win Game Three to force the series into Game Four and possibly Game Five and Owour, who has guided the army side to a number of major honors, believes the race is not over yet.
Espoir won Game One and Game Two 89-63, 106-54 respectively with former APR point guard Kami Kabage scoring a combined 49 points in both game and Aristide Mugabe added 35 points as the regular season champions edge closer to the Playoff title.
The Nyambirambo-based side extended their unbeaten sequence the entire season to 20 games.
Owour said, "We know Espoir is a good side and it will be tough but we will come with the intention to win Game Three. We need to outscore them but at the same time defend better than we did in Game One and Two."
"We need a good performance from all players," the Kenyan continued, adding, "But I am very pleased with the way my young team has been playing in league, but we can't take chances on Saturday or else we lose the title."
He added, "Most of my players are still young with little experience in such big game but we need to give them time to develop their game gradually without putting them under too much pressure."
Espioir and APR will represent the country in the Zone V Championships. Espoir are the defending champions.
Owour helped APR win league and play-off titles in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009. The Kenyan born also guided the military side to three Zone Five titles - in 2007 in Kigali, 2008 in Ethiopia and 2009 in Kampala.
He also won Kenyatta Cup in Kisumu in 2009 with APR.
The former champions need to win Game Three to force the series into Game Four and possibly Game Five and Owour, who has guided the army side to a number of major honors, believes the race is not over yet.
Espoir won Game One and Game Two 89-63, 106-54 respectively with former APR point guard Kami Kabage scoring a combined 49 points in both game and Aristide Mugabe added 35 points as the regular season champions edge closer to the Playoff title.
The Nyambirambo-based side extended their unbeaten sequence the entire season to 20 games.
Owour said, "We know Espoir is a good side and it will be tough but we will come with the intention to win Game Three. We need to outscore them but at the same time defend better than we did in Game One and Two."
"We need a good performance from all players," the Kenyan continued, adding, "But I am very pleased with the way my young team has been playing in league, but we can't take chances on Saturday or else we lose the title."
He added, "Most of my players are still young with little experience in such big game but we need to give them time to develop their game gradually without putting them under too much pressure."
Espioir and APR will represent the country in the Zone V Championships. Espoir are the defending champions.
Owour helped APR win league and play-off titles in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009. The Kenyan born also guided the military side to three Zone Five titles - in 2007 in Kigali, 2008 in Ethiopia and 2009 in Kampala.
He also won Kenyatta Cup in Kisumu in 2009 with APR.
# posted by afrbk : 16:41
