Kazma coach asks wards for consistency as they fall to 0-2

KUWAIT CITY (Kuwait) - Kazma head coach Bojan Lazic hopes to see consistency from his wards after falling short in their comeback bid against Shabab Al Ahli-Dubai, Tuesday night.

"You cannot turn [it] on when you want to," the club's new mentor said moments after their 85-80 defeat at the Shaikh Saad Alabdullah Sport Hall Complex in the Kuwaiti capital, which dropped them to 0-2 in the Group B standings of the FIBA WASL-Gulf League Season 2.

"We cannot just turn things [around] when things turn bad. We need to be, all the time, on the right level," he furthered. "For sure, basketball gods will reward you for this."

Group B

4/12 games played

		GAMES				STREAK	GAME POINTS					POINTS
#	Team	P	W	L	%	Last 5	For	Agt	+/-	FA	AA
1	Manama	2	2	0	100		192	147	45	96	73.5	4
2	Shabab Al Ahli - Dubai	2	2	0	100		181	143	38	90.5	71.5	4
3	Kazma	2	0	2	0		156	169	-13	78	84.5	2
4	Al Shamal	2	0	2	0		134	204	-70	67	102	2

Kazma appeared to be on the other end of a rout when they fell behind by as many as 18 points, 61-43, during the third quarter, until Travis Leslie and Co. buckled down to work.

Eventually, the home team gave out a major scare in the closing moments, when 33-year-old guard fired a three-pointer to pull the home team to within just three, 83-80.

But it proved to be the closest they'd get. Leslie tried to tie the game with another triple, this time way beyond the arc and against the defense of Qais Omar Alshabebi, but missed, proving to be the beginning of the end for a crew that remains winless in the Gulf League.

"We dug ourselves into a hole," lamented Leslie, who finished with 27 points in 26 minutes alongside 5 rebounds in the defeat. "They were more aggressive."

Lazic, though, tipped his hat for the effort his players showed in almost overhauling the huge deficit they fell into, optimistic with the way his team could grow together.

"Of course, this is one of the positive things that I see," offered the veteran bench tactician of that fightback." Let's be realistic also, this is a very good team, Shabab Al Ahli. And with this kind of bounce back in the second half, this shows us that this team has potential."

Part of that growth, of course, is going back to the drawing board and assess what's mostly needed in order for them to finally grab that breakthrough win of the season.

"Not in one game were we able to play like this for 40 minutes, [so we need] to find some consistency," said Lazic. "Too many times, we go up and down. For sure, this is something that we can build on. And, for sure, this is something that we need to work on."

FIBA