The Olds Broncos female basketball team needs to really focus on defence if they want to go far in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) playoffs, associate head basketball coach Peter Sambu says.
That playoff tournament takes place this Thursday through Saturday at SAIT.
"Defence is a must when it comes to playoffs," Sambu said during an interview with the Albertan. "In the regular season, you might get away with mediocre defensive performances here and there, but when it comes to playoffs, it's one and done, so your defence has to be on point."
He has lots of confidence in the team offensively though.
"Actually, that's been our strong suit all year long. We're the highest scoring team in the ACAC, so we're getting a lot of contribution from a lot of players," he said.
The team is strong. Going into last week's final couple of games, they had won 16 of 18 games.
"It's been a pleasure coaching those girls," Sambu told the Albertan. "Those girls have really come a long way since we started our training camp on August 21. They've just found a way to get better.
"We got the job late so we were kind of stuck behind the 8-ball for recruiting. So we recruited last-minute girls or girls who were still available," he added.
"They just worked really hard. They just bought into our system and they've worked really hard and stayed focused on getting better each day."
"In the regular season, you might get away with mediocre defensive performances here and there, but when it comes to playoffs, it's one and done, so your defence has to be on point."
PETER SAMBU
BRONCOS ASSOCIATE HEAD BASKETBALL COACH
