Manager Hoani Smith is praising his team’s efforts at the recent 3X3 world tertiary basketball champs.
Hoani took the Lincoln University women’s side to the event in Xiamen, China for the second consecutive year.
He said the team learnt a lot from the experience and coped better with the differences in the 3X3 game to the traditional basketball style than they had last year.
The team finished a couple of places higher, at 13th, and pushed one of the top finishing teams right to the wire.
He said the players need to develop their all-around skills, as everyone had to be able to score and the game was refereed differently to the traditional form, being allowed to be a lot more physical.
“If it was normal basketball you would probably be fouled out,” he said.
We have the fitness, strength and mental attitude already. There are just a few things to work on which make you better suited to 3x3, he said.
He added the other teams also had a lot more height on court.
“We probably need the hybrid athlete, tall and skilled.”
He was sure the Lincoln teams could adapt and perform even better in the future.
He said the side had a tough pool, having to take on the eventual first, third and fifth place getters.
A highlight was Ajiah Pepe coming fourth in the three-point shooting competition.The event was held at the same venue as last year but the stadium had been further developed and the event was televised and becoming high profile.