Basketball Cup of Belgium Falco Ghent – Kortrijk Spurs (Sunday at 4 p.m.)
Coach Christophe Beghin and his Kortrijk Spurs start the BNXT League next week. But first let’s try to avoid a dangerous cliff in the Belgian Cup with Falco Gent. — © VDB
Kortrijk Spurs will visit second division club Falco Ghent on Sunday at 4 p.m. in the 1/16th finals of the Belgian Cup. “I think we are ready, but we have to be vigilant,” coach Christophe Beghin remains cautious before the dress rehearsal at the start of the competition next week.
“Paul Atkinson Jr. will be there again after his injury,” says Beghin. “I see that my players are improving over time and I think we are already in pretty good shape. However, such a cup match is never easy. We also saw that last year, when Falco Gent came to play at our house. For them this is a bit of the match of the year. Lots of people and a smaller venue, it won’t be easy. We will have to be there from the start, or it could be a difficult match.”
“Last Saturday we practiced in Weert, where we had a difference of 24 points (54-78, red.) won,” Beghin continues. “We played there without Paul Atkinson Jr. and also without D’Vondre Perry. The next day we headed to Paris for a match against the French top team Metropolitans 92, but that was a bit less good. I thought we played well for another 25 minutes, but at the end we were a bit dead. There were also some miscommunications and we ended up losing 87-67. That opponent is top class, but it was mainly the fatigue that bothered us. The movements were killing us. On Saturday we were on the bus for almost five hours and in Paris it was also almost four hours. A bit too much of a good thing, although I don’t want to use that as an excuse. We weren’t ready to play 40 minutes of top basketball. Point.”
Awake from the start
The first competition match awaits next week, but now first to Falco Ghent for the cup. “That is a difficult team to estimate,” says Beghin. “They have also been strengthened a bit. With Maxime Verspeeten and Aaron Van Vooren (both ION Waregem, ed.), to name just those two, they certainly have quality. They also played very good practice matches. For example, they also won against Weert and Bergen. I repeat it again: if we are not awake from the start, we could have problems.”
