Take it to the hole!

The Malta Basketball Association (MBA) yesterday launched the play-offs of the Kinnie Men's National League during a press conference at the Farsons Brewery.

The play-offs begin tomorrow when Siggiewi Smina face BUPA Luxol at 5.30 p.m. The same teams meet again the following day for game two of the best-of-five series. Pembroke Tumas Group and Hamrun Go Mobile will start with game two on Sunday since Pembroke start the series one game up due to their success in the regular season.

Continuous support

Alison Bezzina, Kinnie brand manager, emphasised Kinnie's long-term commitment to basketball. She pointed out that Farsons, through Kinnie, were happy to continue this association as the game continued to develop in a professional manner, as illustrated by the gold medal triumph of the women's national team in the 2003 GSSE.

Magistrate Antonio Mizzi, the president of the MBA, thanked Farsons for their continuous support in a year full of tribulations due to the flooding of the Ta' Qali Pavilion.

Magistrate Mizzi noted, however, that the three honours that had been won this year had gone to three different teams, namely Luxol, Pembroke and Siggiewi and this augurs well for a very balanced and exciting play-offs.

The MBA president concluded by assuring everyone that the tendering process for the new floor at Ta' Qali was at an advanced stage and that the both senior national teams would be playing at Ta' Qali in their Euro Championship commitments.

The coaches...

Ray Muscat, coach of Siggiewi, agreed with Magistrate Mizzi that it would be difficult to predict the outcome of the play-offs with the teams so closely matched.

He pointed out that Siggiewi had worked to consolidate their strengths in the two-week break prior to the play-offs.

"The inconsistencies we suffered due to injuries or work commitments now have to be put aside. We have been working hard to peak up for the play-offs," Muscat said.

According to Muscat, Siggiewi are entering the play-offs confident in their capabilities of pulling off their first ever league triumph.

Luxol coach John Tabone announced that tomorrow's play-off game would be Luxol's 800th competitive match. It is a testament to Luxol's consistency that they have always made the play-offs since their inception.

Tabone emphasised that the players believe in the club's tradition and felt the responsibility to continue it.

In their first season for more than a decade without Ivan Attard, the team had to make changes in its style of play, Tabone noted.

Adding a touch of controversy, Tabone noted that Luxol had fewer players considered for their individual worth while Siggiewi were a team replete with national team players. "Notwithstanding this, I am confident in the team as a group," Tabone remarked.

Joe Galea, coach of Pembroke, indicated that his team had several advantages over Hamrun going into the semi-finals, especially the one-game lead they enjoy as a result of placing first in the regular season.

He also drew optimism from the fact that Hamrun, who have yet to beat Pembroke this season, have been relatively inactive in the past month due the way the fixtures were made.

All the same, he recognised that Hamrun also had their strengths and that the team would be fully concentrating on their semi-final before looking at their possibilities of winning the league.

The view of Kevin Decesare, coach of Hamrun Go Mobile, is that his team are the underdogs of the play-offs, especially due to the fact that they had been very inconsistent.

"However, our team have a combination of speed and size that could create problems," said Decesare, his optimism lifted by Hamrun's good performance in their last encounter with Pembroke.

Decesare also expressed the hope that captain Albert Spiteri (who was present for the press conference) would use all his experience in turning the team's fortunes around.

Decesare concluded by pointing at the difficulty the team faced starting the series one game down.

The journalists present had a number of questions for the coaches with the issue of teams having to play back-to-back games (on consecutive days) top of the agenda.

Luxol's Tabone remarked that the teams had already faced similar circumstances in the Louis Borg Cup and that he was sure the players would recover sufficiently.

On his part, Muscat said he was not in favour of play-off games being played on consecutive days especially as the efforts players made in play-off games were always more than in regular season fixtures. Muscat pointed out that teams like Luxol, with a number of young players, might be favoured since they would probably recover quickly from the stress of a game.

Regarding injury problems facing the four teams in the play-offs, Galea said that Wayne Spiteri, who has been used sparingly in the regular season, had hurt his ankle which was in plaster. Otherwise, the coaches confirmed they would be entering the play-offs with their recent line ups.

This weekend, the play-offs of the Women's National League also start with Depiro and Naxxar Danone meeting on Saturday and Sunday while Hibs face Luxol on Sunday starting the series one game up.