Luanda - The Petro de Luanda Coach, José Neto, predicted Monday, in the country's capital, that the "Kalahari" Conference of the African Basketball League (BAL), from the 9th to the 17th of this month, in Pretoria (South Africa), will be difficult and will require greater effort from the team.
In a press conference, before the last training session in the country, the coach of the national champion team stated that it will be a very difficult competition for his group, given that the regulations provide for the registration of five foreign players.
He added that all teams set out with the same objective, which is to qualify for the final stage. He explained that the fact that the Angolan champion is a totalist in the race generates enormous expectations and that Petro will encounter difficulties of various kinds, but still, believe in the work process.
“From 2021 to now, the teams have evolved a lot. So we need to align expectations with reality, because it will be very difficult for us”, he said.
The Brazilian coach clarified that almost thirty days have passed since he trained with the complete group, some of whom were at the service of the National Team and others are in the recovery process, such as Carlos Morais, John Pedro and Aboubakar Gakou, who did not perform their Angola Cup quarter-final games.
In the Kalahari conference, which marks its debut in the competition, Petro will play against Fus de Rabat (Morocco), Cape Town Tigers (South Africa) and Dynamo (Burundi).
For the final phase, taking place in Rwanda, between the months of May and June, the first two classified from each conference and the two best third-placed teams will qualify.
In its debut year, in 2021, Petro de Luanda was in third place, in 2022 it was a defeated finalist, and in 2023 it fell to fourth place. The Angolan representative travels on Tuesday to compete in the “Kalahari” Conference in South Africa.
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