ACARDIA BUCS head coach Viv Emmanuel has refused to read too much into her team’s midweek 44-49 defeat to Harare Basketball Association (HBA) Super Six reign champions JBC and instead prefers to keep her eyes on the bigger picture.
Emmanuel believes that her team is still in the title race but would settle for a top-three finish and qualify for the Basketball Union of Zimbabwe National League when all is said and done.
“Very much so, we are still in the title race as we trail JBC by only five points and there is still plenty of basketball left in the season,” said the Bucs coach.
JBC top the HBA Super Six log standings with 25 points from 13 matches, while newboys Basket Hounds, Leopards Academy and Bucs are tied on 20 points in second, third and fourth place.
Mbare Bulls and UZ Stars (15) complete the log standings as they occupy the relegation fifth and sixth places.
The HBA Super Six returns today with top-of-the-table clashes as JBC meets Leopards Academy while the Bucs play Basket Hounds at Sunrise Sports Club.
“The Bucs are a very unpredictable team and we will have to be at our best if we are to secure the victory,” said Hounds coach Tawanda Nemutambwa
“However, I feel like we are ready, ready for them and it should be a great encounter,” he said.
The two teams have met twice already this season and go into the match-up with one victory apiece.
Both have been the surprise packages of the season too as the Vitalis Chikoko-owned Hounds have burst onto the scene and become reigning Super Six champions JBC’s biggest rival.
Bucs have continued their budding rivalry with the champions as they have beaten them twice now since the inception of the Super Six format.
JBC clinched the inaugural season unbeaten on their way to a league and cup double with the National League.
The Harare giants’ only defeat during the 2022/23 season came during the preliminary rounds of the BUZ National League and at the hands of Arcadia Bucs.
Emmanuel and her boys then went a step further and inflicted JBC’s first league defeat back in December last year.
“Yeah, it a big victory for me, especially as a female coach, and the team which we celebrated and moved on from,” said Emmanuel on beating JBC.
“They got their win back when they beat us on Wednesday (midweek), but we took a few lessons from that game.
“My boys did well to recover from being 15 points down during the game to losing it by only five points.
“We also learnt a few things about our game like we need to concentrate for all four quarters and get out of the gates a lot quicker.
“These are some of the lessons we hope to carry into our next match against Basket Hounds.
“Every game is important as we need to get as many points as possible to secure those automatic National League qualification spots,” she said.
Bucs meet a somewhat depleted Hounds outfit as the trio of Munyaradzi Manyeza (ankle), Tawonga Muvezwa (ankle) and Sydney Bobo (thumb) are currently nursing slight knocks and could sit out the match.
HBA Super Six Fixtures
Bunnies v Fillies (W)
Blades v Vixens (W)
Harare City Hornets v UZ Sparks (W)
UZ Stars v Mbare Bulls (M)
Arcadia Bucs v Basket Hounds (M)
JBC V Leopards Academy (M)
*All matches at Sunrise Sports Club
Source The Herald news
