Team Craves Experience In Women’s B/Ball

Coach Adebayo Aderinboye of Oluyole Women Basketball team of Ibadan last week said his team needed more time together to perform better in the ongoing Zenith Bank Women’s Basketball League.

Aderinboye told newsmen) in Abuja that the team was just assembled before the league’s first phase kicked off with 16 teams on March 23.

Oluyole Babes did not record any win after three matches and three days of action at the competition at the Abuja National Stadium’s Indoor Sports Hall.

The league consist 10 regular teams and six new entrants, with Oluyole Babes as one of the newcomers.

“Before now, we didn’t have a female team, apart from our male team which will be playing this season in the DSTV Premier Men’s Basketball League.

“So, we just assembled our female team shortly before the league started.

“And that is always the problem with a female team. When you assemble it newly, you should expect a thing like this to happen because women are not easy to manage.

“It takes time for them to get the cohesion. So, they need more time together,’’ the coach said.

Aderinboye added also that the league was the team’s first avenue to showcase what had been done in camp.

“This league is the first opportunity for us to show what we have been doing in camp and we didn’t expect to override those that have been in the league before now.

“If you are new in a competition, these are the kind of things that happen before everything will fall in place and that is the only period you will have to discover the team’s weak points.

“Correcting it immediately may not be easy because some other teams have been conversant with the rudiments of the game,’’ he said.

Aderinboye however, expressed optimism that the team could still be among the last eight teams in the competition in spite of its poor start.

“Our performance now does not mean that we can’t still be among the final eight because with the way sports are, you don’t lose hope until the final whistle.