Men's Semi Finals Week 1 SBL Preview
THE men's SBL semi finals begin this Saturday night with the Geraldton Buccaneers, Perth Redbacks, Lakeside Lightning and East Perth Eagles fighting for the chance to win through to the grand final of 2014.
Both Game 1 match ups of the semi finals take place at 7.30pm on Saturday night with the lower-ranked teams playing host as the Lakeside Lightning face the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers and the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles take on the Perth Redbacks.
The series' will then be decided next weekend with the higher-ranked teams hosting Game 2 and Game 3 if required to determine the women's SBL grand finalists for 2014.
Game 1 of the semi final series between the Lakeside Lightning and Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers takes place on Saturday night at Lakeside Recreation Centre.
The Buccaneers also had an outstanding regular season in 2013 finishing in third position with an 18-8 record before being bundled out in the quarter finals by eventual grand finalists the Wolves.
The Buccs took things up another gear in 2014 finishing the regular season as the minor premiers with a 19-7 record and then advanced to the semi finals by beating the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers in two matches in the quarter finals.
The Lightning, meanwhile, are the defending champions coming off a dominant 2013 season and have again had a solid 2014 finishing in fourth spot with a 16-10 record and then beating the Stirling Senators in three games with an epic triple overtime Game 3 victory at home last Saturday night.
With the minor premiers in action against the defending champions, and with stars such as Aaron Ralph, Bennie Lewis, Carter Cook, Brad Tinsley, Brad Jackson, Caleb Palkert and Jarrad Prue, there is plenty of talent to hit the floor and a fascinating series with a grand final berth up for grabs should result.
The Lightning and Buccaneers played one another twice during the regular season with Geraldton winning the first meeting in Week 7 121-97 at Lakeside Recreation Centre and then the Buccs again prevailed in Week 13 90-83 at Active West Stadium.
Game 1 of semi final contest between the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles and the Perth Redbacks takes place at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre on Saturday night.
The Redbacks finished in eighth position at the end of the 2013 season with a 14-12 record and then lost in the quarter finals to the championship-winning Lakeside Lightning.
However, Perth struck gold with its import signing Stan Okoye from the start of the 2014 season and then teamed him up with Lee Roberts to add to the experienced Joel Wagner, Jarrad Prior and Dennis Tawhiti to form a potent line-up.
The Redbacks finished the 2014 regular season in third position with a 17-9 record and on a six-game winning streak before then beating the Mandurah Magic in two quarter final matches to mean they are now on an eight-game winning run heading into the semi final clash with the Eagles.
The Eagles might have finished the regular season with a 14-12 record and in seventh position in the standings, but with the knowledge that when at full strength and on song, they were capable of pushing any team come playoffs time.
East Perth took on the second-placed Orange Autos Rockingham Flames in the quarter finals and won Game 1 at home to open the series, before losing Game 2 at Rockingham but bouncing back to win Game 3 and book a semi final series with the Perth Redbacks.
East Perth was given a huge boost in the quarter finals with the return of dominant centre Tom Jervis coming off his NBL season that saw him win a championship with the Perth Wildcats and claim the league's Rookie of the Year award.
The Eagles' team also includes another former NBL championship winner Drew Williamson, development player Sunday Dech, Wildcats' squad member Mathiang Muo and the talented Kyle Armour so there is plenty there for coach Adam Forde to work with.
The Redbacks and Eagles met twice during the regular season with Perth winning the first meeting in Week 5 106-88 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre, and then again prevailing 91-79 at Belmont Oasis in Week 19.
WEEK 1 MEN'S SEMI FINALS SBL FIXTURES
SATURDAY
Lakeside Lightning v Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers, Lakeside Recreation Centre 7.30pm
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles v Perth Redbacks, Morley Sport and Recreation Centre 7.30pm
Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene Elise Photography
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