adminhave stepped up their preparations for the tournament.
They trooped into camp in Harare on Monday.
The weeklong tournament is set to run from November 14 to 21 and will feature clubs from Angola, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Malawi, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
However, it is the presence of clubs from Southern African region’s basketball powerhouses, Angola and Mozambique, which will pose a threat to the Zimbabwean team as the two countries have over the years been Zimbabwe’s main challenge even at tournaments involving national teams.
The tournament will act as qualifiers for the FIBA Africa Champions Cup to be held next month. Heat coach, Peter Mubanda, said their preparations were progressing well as the team started their full camp on Monday at Harare International School.
“We started the full camp this week on Monday. We are training every day focusing on the conditioning, combination strategies and mental fitness.
“The players are really looking forward to it and when (you are) going to meet the best teams from other countries you always try to put your best performance,” said Mubanda.
Mubanda will be banking his hopes on seasoned players such as Eric Banda, Tawanda Chitsinde, Simba Mugomezi and Brian Hove who have played for the national teams in several international competitions.
However, Mubanda said if his troops are to qualify for the Champions Cup, they will have to beat one of the three Angolan teams that will be competing in South Africa.
The top two teams will progress to the finals.
“A lot of these players have played at a high level. It has just been a thing of mental attitude. There are three teams from Angola coming and for us to qualify we have to beat one of the Angolan teams.
“We are not taking anything away from the Angolans, they are good but they are also beatable.
“Mental preparedness is key for our players. We have seen Mozambique play, we have played Zambia before and we know South Africa very well.
“It a matter of mental preparedness and believing that we can beat them,” said Mubanda.
The team is scheduled to leave for South Africa on Saturday.
The women’s competition is set for Angola this month but the dates are yet to be announced. Zimbabwe will be represented by Varsity and JBC.
Online Reporter