In-house, the basketball players of Heroes Den Bosch have not been able to beat ZZ Leiden again. It was 74-90 for the defending champion. After a dramatically weak start to the race, Den Bosch was behind the times throughout the race. The series is now 1-1. The next game is in Leiden on Wednesday.
After the win in the first game, Heroes seemed to have gained confidence for the home game. However, it turned out completely different. Leiden came out of the starting blocks fanatically and Den Bosch was not itself.
“We were much too rushed in our attacks,” said coach Eric Braal afterwards. “We played very fast and that led to open shots, but that was not the way we won the first game. Then we had a lot more consultation.”
Before the gunpowder fumes in a well-filled Maaspoort had cleared, Heroes faced an almost unbridgeable deficit (10-23) after the 1st quarter. Leiden was better, but also sharper and more aggressive in defence.
“I said at halftime that we had to go back to our basketball.”
In the Maaspoort, Heroes seemed over-motivated at the start of the match due to the full hall to win the match. “I said at halftime that we had to go back to our basketball.”
After the break, Heroes’ game improved and the team was more aggressive. The pursuit was started. As a result, there was only a margin of six points on the scoreboard in the last quarter (67-73). Only Den Bosch never really got a grip on the Leiden attack. “Coming back to the game naturally takes a lot of energy and Leiden played well.”
It was striking that Austin Price, the top scorer of the first game with 28 points, now scored not a single point.
Wednesday will be the third game in the series in Leiden in which both teams have now won one game. The team that wins three matches first is the champion of the Netherlands. The fourth game is Friday evening in Den Bosch.
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