The Manawatū Jets are targeting a win in their last game of the season this weekend.
BASKETBALL: The Manawatū Jets are aiming to go out on a high in their last game of the season.
After a mid-season surge the Jets have run out of energy and troops in recent weeks, so a win would be a good note to finish on.
Players being unavailable has disrupted them recently. John Bohannon and Rob Crawford have been battling illness, Zane Najdawi has returned to the United States this week after breaking his finger against the Otago Nuggets and Tu Kaha Cooper missed a game with a knee injury.
But they have one more game against the Bay Hawks in Napier on Sunday and coach Natu Taufale was hopeful of one more win.
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“We’ve got the Hawks, we’ll do our best to upset their plans to make the playoffs. We’re down one import, but the guys are still upbeat about it.”
He said the Hawks were a strong side with seven past and present Tall Blacks, but they hadn’t been in good form, so the Jets had the chance to steal a win.
The Jets have lost five games in a row, but their last win was against the Hawks in Palmerston North last month.
Taufale said they can’t afford to let teams get the jump on them as they did in their 109-70 home loss to the Wellington Saints last weekend.
Their shooting deserted them that day and they were down 28-2 and 32-4 during the first quarter.
“We’ve put that behind us and we’ve had a positive week. We’re looking forward to the last game of the season.”
A win against the Hawks would also give the Jets a chance of avoiding last place.
The Jets are last but are on the same amount of points as the Southland Sharks. If the Jets win this weekend and the Sharks lose their final two games, the Jets could finish ahead of them.
“We’re on the bottom, but we’ve won five games,” Taufale said. “We’re not far off the top six.
“It felt like the last third of the season, the last six games, we’ve been getting things like illnesses.
He said there was pressure on Hawke’s Bay as they were trying to maintain a spot in the top six, while there was none on the Jets.
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