Latest News
Urban Knights looking to psyche up for another title charge
December 27, 2024
Although they are set to retain the majority of their players, defending champions of the National Basketball League (NBL) Urban Knight will be relying more on hurdling psychological challenges to land yet another title.
Head coach Simon Brown, who has led the Knights to the championship on four occasions, said winning could all boil down to desire, hence the coaching staff must work to improve their mindset.
"Right now the puzzle is unscrambling but it's not a short time to get it together. Therefore, it'll be day to day, week to week to improve as a team to defend the cup. I know the NBL is going to be competitive and it's going to come down to the team who wants it more," he said.
"We as the coaching staff will have to come up with things to motivate them. That's what happens in basketball, we as the leaders will need to get that fire burning again," Brown said.
The NBL is set to tip off on Saturday, January 18, and Brown said even though their team preparation is halfway advanced, many of their players are match ready as they are involved in other competitions.
"I think we're at about 50 per cent. A lot of the guys have been engaged in a lot of basketball, Business House and Intercol, so it's not like they're not playing basketball, you now have the older players that when it gets to about a month in the competition they should be around where the younger ones are. Therefore, I'm not worried," he explained.
Brown does not expect much shifting around of his championship pieces. Instead, the coach believes they will be better because of additions.
"We're set to have the same set of players. We may lose a couple, but we've improved in one area which is on the wing. We struggled at that position last year but just in case a player gets injured, we have players that can fill in," he shared.
"We also struggled last year to go to the free throw line and we've two players now who are good at that," he added.
