Clement Poku- Adu Gyamfi has hit the hardwook as the head coach of Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) as prepares his team for the 2015 UPAC Basketball Championship.
The former student of the institute, nicknamed, CID, is looking to keep the momentum going ahead of the hugely-anticipated Greater Accra group 1 qualifiers on Saturday March 14.
GIMPA open their campaign against high-flying Ho Polytechnic before meetings against host University of Professional Studies (UPSA) and Pentecost University College (PUC) will determine how far they go in the competition this term.
GIMPA hope to be revelation in their debut appearance and if their warm-up game against Wisconsin International College is anything to go by, then they could be a real threat to their group opponents.
They entered the mini-pocket tournament as big underdogs but surprised many with their chemistry and power-play to beat Wisconsin. That performance has suddenly elevated them as potential winners of their group.
It’s not far-fetched to guess what the make-up of his roaster will look like going into the one-day championship.
Right now, Adu Gyamfi, who recently completed the institute, as well as team coordinator Ebenezer Chief Boadu, are assisting him in practices this week, working with the players to fine-tune and see which ones have the potential to be in his squad now or in the future.
Among the players working out with coach Adu Gyamfi are captain McMartey Lawer, Kwame Boamah, Kwame Elorm, Samuel Simpson, Jesse Jones, Jake Morrison, Ali Anas, Nana Baidoo, Solomon Odum Mensah, Kusi Adu Amankwah, Albert Bortey and Reginald Awuku Boateng amongst others.
Speaking to BASKETBALLghana.com, Adu Gyamfi showed a boyish enthusiasm about returning to the hardwood to coach.
“You can tell I’m excited,” he said. “It’s thrilling to be back in this environment.”
This is the first coaching job for Adu Gyamfi and will use the qualifiers to test his technical acumen.
A very important point of emphasis for Gyamfi is to get all of the players in the GIMPA team to understand how he wants them to play defense and offense.
“Everybody is busy working on the various aspect of the game. From defense to attack and so we shall see how it pants out.
“You can be a good defensive team against your opponent, then you force your opponents to do the things they’re not so comfortable of doing.”
As for what he envisions in the upcoming UPAC Basketball Championship, Gyamfi said: “We want pressure basketball. We want our opponent to commit a lot of mistakes and keep the pressure on offensively.
“I think that suits the nature of my team,” Gyamfi said.
“That’s what we want to do. We want to put their strengths under pressure and force them to their weaknesses.”
Gyamfi, meanwhile, has not been working in secrecy. He has opened the doors to training for observers to see what his approach is going to be.
“If other coaches want to come along and they feel they could learn something, that’s fantastic.
“My team is more than prepared. Psychologically, emotionally, physically and spiritually prepared.
“We strongly believed that one day someday, the charcoal sellers’ son will wear a white shirt.
“We don’t want to talk much. We’ll allow the court to do the talking.”
