“THIS IS our court, this is our home, this is our game.”
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Those are the thoughts Bathurst Goldminers Division Two Youth Men’s coach Andrew Osborn wants at the forefront of his player’s minds as they prepare to host Liverpool-Macarthur Razorbacks this Saturday.
After five games each, the Goldminers and Razorbacks share a three and two record, but the Bathurst outfit sits one spot ahead on the ladder due to a superior for and against percentage.
Osborn wants his men to ensure they broaden that gap with a win and he feels playing at the Bathurst Indoor Stadium will help them deliver.
“Playing at home, that will make a huge difference to us. A home court advantage in a game like this is a real benefit because you are playing on the court that you train on,” the coach said.
“You know how the backboard reacts, you know how the ring reacts, a lot of these kids have played their whole basketball career there, so they know it inside and out.”
While they are yet to meet this season, Osborn has looked at past results to get a gauge on how strong the Razorbacks are in 2017.
Both beat Springwood and Camden, but the Goldminers did so by more convincing margins. Both also lost to Moss Vale, but Bathurst came much closer.
“They lost by 11 and when we played Moss Vale we lost by five, but I ended up with three players on court – that was that match where there were 73 fouls and nine players fouled off the court,” Osborn said. “So we are reasonable confident.”
Tip-off is at 6pm on Saturday night.