No playoffs for LGITS.nl Martini Sparks. The team of coach Caspar Wit seemed three quarters on its way to ‘dessert’ in the Women’s Basketball League, but failed in the last part of the match against Lekdetec.nl: 67-74.
„The tiredness and perhaps the tension set in”, coach Wit sipped after the dramatic loss. ,,After the third quarter I still really believed in it, but they tightened up the defense and we didn’t have an answer to that in the last quarter.” Martini Sparks seemed to be on its way to the playoffs in the top division of women’s basketball. At halftime (score 29-40 at halftime in favor of the Groningen team), the team was already told that competitor Basketball Academy Limburg had lost to Topkip Lions.
No extra boost
A win would therefore mean playoffs, but it did not give the Harense team an extra boost. Instead, the lead that had been built up disappeared. ,,We played fantastic parts”, Wit said. ,,We made a 22-0 run after trailing 4-15. After that we forgot to press because we almost had them on their knees.”
The disappointment of missing the playoffs was great, but it also provided captain Kim Jaasma with relief. ,,We would have liked to have reached the playoffs, but on the other hand I am glad the season is over. It was especially tough mentally. Some peripheral matters got the upper hand and as a result we performed less than we could have. Based on our game, we could and should have reached the playoffs.”
Whether Jaasma, who played four of the five seasons with Martini Sparks at the highest level of the women’s league, will continue depends on many things. ,,There has to be a very good plan, otherwise I will play somewhere else. Look, we don’t need a big bag of money, but we don’t want to keep taking one step forward and then three back.”
No contract
White also does not yet know whether he will coach Martini Sparks next year. “I don’t have a contract, so it’s up to the board. The players have been in this pattern for five years; get out of work or study, train hard with a team with little financial capacity. We have to become much more competitive, because I’m not going to continue with just youth players and two Americans.”
Chairman Cees Dijkhuis understands the grievances from the team, but weighs his words. ,,In women’s basketball in the north, the rinse is thin. And with 10 to 20,000 euros more you can do much more. I think we’ll take it one step further next season. First we will talk to everyone involved, because in principle we as a board would like to keep everyone, including coach Caspar Wit.”