FUS Rabat vs Petro de Luanda is “going to be a dogfight” says Jordan

A lot is at stake when Petro de Luanda and FUS Rabat face each other on Thursday at SunBet Arena in Pretoria.

It’s the second matchup between two teams aiming to clinch the first two Playoff spots of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Season 4.

When FUS Rabat and Petro de Luanda faced off in the opener of the Kalahari Conference last week, the former prevailed 82-73.

“We weren’t able to play our game, especially, offensively. The other team was the better one,” Petro de Luanda shooting guard Carlos Morais admitted.

While FUS Rabat lead the Kalahari Conference with a perfect 3-0, which includes a forfeit win against Dynamo Basketball Club, Petro de Luanda sit second with a 2-1 mark.

If FUS Rabat beat Petro de Luanda for the second time this season, they will move a step closer to winning the Kalahari Conference.

“We feel very confident,” said FUS Rabat guard Kendrick Brown. He added: “Coming here we believed in ourselves. We are a family… whatever happens we will have to deal with it, but we’ll stay together.”

A look back at the clash between these two teams indicates that team rotation, rebounding and protection of the perimeter line could be crucial.

In their first Kalahari Conference match-up, FUS Rabat’s bench outscored Petro de Luanda’s 32-20. The Moroccan champions out-rebounded Jose Neto’s team 42-34 and excelled from behind the arc, finishing 9-for-22 compared to Petro de Luanda’s 8-for-27.

“It’s going to be a good game,” said FUS Rabat guard Jonathan Jordan who finished with 17 points in the win against Petro.

Jordan continued: “I am sure they will be highly motivated... they want to clinch a spot to move on as well. So, we just need to come out and execute our game plan and remain focused, remain hungry and humble. It’s going to be a dogfight.”

Petro de Luanda center Yanick Moreira explained that “Nobody is favorite in this tournament. If anybody thinks they are favorite and they are going to win, I can tell you, they are wrong. They are going to lose. Nobody is safe in this league.”

Reflecting on his team’s first loss of the season, Petro de Luanda head coach Jose Neto observed: “They [FUS Rabat] killed us, defense and offensively. We couldn’t play our game.”

The Brazilian play-caller  went on saying: “Our focus is to qualify to Kigali [the site of the BAL Season 4 Playoffs].”

Neto and his counterpart Said El Bouzidi have faced each other three times before in the BAL.

During the league’s inaugural season Neto’s Petro overcame El Bouzidi’s AS Salé twice in Kigali.