Bigger picture: Schomers glad as Kuwait Club open title defense bid on right foot
MANAMA (Bahrain) - It's the bigger picture that matters for Kuwait Club.
MANAMA (Bahrain) - Kuwait Club head coach Peter Schomers was pleased with the way his charges set the tone of their FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) campaign following a big victory over Muharraq on the road in the opening salvo of Season 2 on Monday night.
“We don't talk about it all the time, but we don't need to talk about it because that's what we want to do.”
The defending Gulf League champions dealt the debuting side a 108-92 beatdown in their very own home floor but the win meant more than just successfully starting their title defense bid, as it is also a step into the direction that the entire squad would love to reach at least in the Group Phase.
"Very important for us to open it with a win. Because, as you know, the homecourt advantage counts at the end. You want to finish first in your group," offered the champion mentor during the postgame presser at the BBA Arena. "If you start your season with a loss, obviously you run behind."
Schomers is definitely speaking from experience. The inaugural competitions saw Kuwait Club sweep all six of their assignments in the Group Phase, which not only sent them directly to the best-of-3 Semi-Finals but also gave the team the homecourt incentive in the Final Phase.
They did take full advantage of it, eventually winning the sub-zone league championship in sweeping fashion (10-0). Thus, the desire to pull that off once again in this new season.
One down, five more to go for them. "It's only six games. So, that's not a whole lot of games. You have to really focus on every game," said the German bench tactician.
After Muharraq, the team will then take on Al Rayyan of Qatar on November 27 before facing Al-Ahli Jeddah of Saudi Arabia on December 11. All of the other teams in their group are among the FIBA WASL newcomers, which adds more challenge to Kuwait Club's quest.
Schomers acknowledges that the road could get more difficult as the season goes along. But he's not running short of confidence whatsoever with his wards, either.
"We won it, like, two years in a row now -- two years ago was the tournament, last year was the league. So, I would say, you know, without trying to be overconfident or cocky, that we should probably win or we're up there to win it again," said the 61-year-old coach.
"It's definitely not gonna be easy, especially whoever we're gonna face in the Semi-Final, or Final, they're gonna be good teams. That's our goal," he continued. "We don't talk about it all the time, but we don't need to talk about it because that's what we want to do."
FIBA