| Fadhil Yunus |
YTE Morsjaya will be hoping to avoid defending champions Easyway at least before the final after staging a routine 129-86 win over Tutong basketball team in the MK Group Cup at the Brunei Basketball Association Court in Batu Bersurat last night.
YTE Morsjaya secured a place in the quarterfinals after boasting a perfect 3-0 record and though they are on course of avoiding Easyway it would be best to meet them all the way in the final.
Arnel Caringal, the team’s head coach, has emphasised that Easyway is the team to beat and that his group of players are on par as group rivals Juramas, who they face in the decisive final group match.
YTE Morsjaya did not finish top of the group in last year’s tournament and will hope not to repeat the same occurrence again this year.
“We were beaten by Easyway in the semi-finals in the crossover because we were not able to get the number one spot,” said Arnel in a post-match interview with the Bulletin.
“I have no doubt that the team (Easyway) is favourites in lifting the title again this year. It is not easy to beat them.”
However, Arnel would not have any qualms if they were drawn against Juramas who he rated as a similar strength to his side.
“Against Juramas we have a good chance. We cannot compare Juramas to Easyway because Easyway is really strong,” he continued.
“The line-up of Juramas is almost the same as us,” the head coach continued.
Arnel said that they have sealed qualification but their clash against Juramas will determine the final positioning of the group.
With more technically gifted opposition in the horizon, the head coach expressed delight with the defensive showing after lamenting that his charges have allowed Walltique Sdn Bhd to come back in the third quarter in the group opener.
The winner of Group ‘B’ will have a lighter workload against the fourth best-placed team in Group ‘A’ in the quarter-finals but it is the semi-finals which would likely pose a huge challenge.
With both sides hoping to be the second team in the final on August 6, Arnel said that his charge is fully prepared against the much-anticipated affair against Juramas.
“We are starting to gel as a team. Everybody knows their game now and we’re getting ready for the game against Juramas of course.”
Arnel added that their imports will only be harder to play against for any team as each game progressed.
“We want to see how our imports will play if it is imports vs imports. We will see what happens,” he said.
The head coach also illustrated the importance of top defence by minimising the opponents’ from scoring whilst referencing a basketball cliché.
“We want to limit the points of the opponents if we want to win. The best offence is defence. You need to defend first before you make a point.”
YTE Morsjaya’s duo Shaheed Davis and Nick Stover were the highest scorers of the game with the former bagging 41 points and the latter netting 40 points.
Meanwhile, in the second game, Juramas hammered Hainan 114-32. Juramas and YTE Morsjaya will decide who top Group ‘B’ tomorrow.
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