Edmonton Stingers Won't Underestimate Opponent Despite Record
The Edmonton Stingers are going for nine-consecutive wins and on paper, should be able to get past the struggling Fraser Valley Bandits at the Expo Centre (7 p.m.) on Thursday.
Yet, basketball is not played on paper and the 12-4 Stingers know better than to underestimate the 4-12 Bandits.
“That’s the biggest thing, if you’re a good team, you play to your identity 40 minutes regardless of who you’re playing,” said Stingers head coach Jermaine Small. “We talk about that and we look at their record and it’s about being who we are and not beating ourselves. And we’re at home. We’ve had good fan support and good support throughout the city and so we’re just looking forward to being home after being on the road for quite a while.”
Apart from attempting to extend their record winning streak, the Stingers are also trying to earn the top seed at the Championship Weekend tournament, so there is plenty left to play for with the Bandits.
The team also hasn’t played at home since July 11 and are looking to put on a good show for the hometown crowd.
“We just have to play to our level, we can’t drop down to any team’s level,” said Stingers guard Adika Peter-McNeilly. “We have to make sure we play at that level and it starts off at practice, we’re going to go hard in practice, prepare, get our bodies right and get ready.
“It’s going to be amazing, we haven’t played at home in a while, a couple of weeks, so it’s going to be nice to come home and play in front of the home fans and get a win.”
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