A large part of the selection of Heroes Den Bosch is currently ill due to the corona virus. Saturday’s match against Antwerp is therefore cancelled. It would be the first home game in the joint basketball competition with Belgium. Coach Erik Braal is disappointed with the many cases of illness. “It’s bizarre what has happened in the past few days.”
Coach Braal had urged his group of players last week to continue to follow the corona rules. “I hadn’t said them yet and one sick person after another came in.”
The Bossche basketball players have had some individual corona cases so far this season. Appointments and precautions didn’t make it worse, but now it does. “We really have a few players who are really sick.”
Baal can only speculate about the cause. Carnival was not allowed to celebrate his selection. He has noticed that especially the players who have recently been on the road with the national teams are sick. Heroes has internationals from the Netherlands, Finland and England in the selection.
The Bossche player group includes players who have corona for the second time this season. The coach sees the cases of illness as a strong signal. “Due to the war in Ukraine, the urgency surrounding corona seems a bit gone, because you hear and read little about it.”
The sporting consequences are not so bad for the time being. Last weekend, the team lost without three patients in Mons (88-85). The game that was to be played next Saturday has been moved to next Thursday.
On Sunday 20 March, Heroes will play the cup final against Donar. That duel does not appear to be in danger. From a sporting point of view, Braal is not worried either. “As the number 1 in the Netherlands, we have shown what we can do, we must be able to show that again soon.”