The Super Basketball League (SBL) semi-finals begin at the University of Taipei Gymnasium in Tianmu this afternoon with top-seeded Pure Youth Construction taking on the fourth-seeded Yulon Luxgens, as the Builders continue their quest for an unprecedented fourth straight league title.
Even though the Builders are heavy favorites to not only win the best-of-seven series against Yulon, but also to win the title, the Automakers still represent a serious threat to the three-time defending champions with a 3-2 record in their five regular season meetings, the last of which came on Feb. 14 at the Hualien County Sports Complex in an 81-78 thriller.
The Luxgens also boast Herve Lamizana, Player of the Month for the past two months, in their lineup to take on Pure Youth, not to mention a 5-1 record in their past six contests.
“With Herve on top of his game, [the Luxgens] are a force to be reckoned with, so we know we have our work cut out for us,” Pure Youth skipper Hsu Chin-che said earlier this week.
The Luxgens have also had nearly a week off since sweeping Bank of Taiwan in their first round of postseason play.
While Lamizana’s battle against Pure Youth big man Garret Siler inside the paint will play a key role in the outcome of the series, how the Luxgens handle the Builders’ patented pressure defense, especially on the wings, will also determine how successful they will be against Pure Youth offensively.
In the other semi-final match between the second-seeded Fubon Braves and third-seeded Taiwan Beer in Tianmu, the Brew Crew will be aiming to improve on their dismal 1-4 record against the Braves in the regular season by getting Liu Cheng involved in the game on offense early to take the scoring burden off center Patrick O’Bryant.
The Brew Crew’s streaky swingman — who has not been as consistent as head coach Yen Chia-hua would have liked — had two solid games in Taiwan Beer’s series sweep against Kinmen Kaoliang in their first-round play and must carry that momentum into this series in order to stretch it to at least Game 6.
This will be the Braves’ series to lose as they match up better against the Brew Crew at virtually every position, particularly inside the paint with Wu Dai-hao and hired gun Darian Townes anchoring a frontcourt that is second to none in the league in size and fire power.
Taiwan Beer will have to play a perfect game and hope for a subpar performance from the Braves in order to pull off an upset in the all-important Game 1.
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