The Championship Finals begin at 7pm this evening at the Kaohsiung Feng Shan Gymnasium, where top-seeded and four-time defending champions Pure Youth Construction will look to defend their title against the second-seeded Taiwan Beer.
The best-of-seven series is a rematch from last season, when the Builders overcame a 1-3 deficit in dramatic fashion, taking the final three games to deny the Brew Crew’s bid for what would have been their fourth league title.
Topping the fifth-seeded Fubon Braves 4-2 in the semi-finals, despite dropping the opener, Pure Youth took games 2, 3, 5 and 6 to punch their ticket to an unprecedented fifth straight finals appearance.
As for Taiwan Beer, the road to their quest for the Holy Grail began with an overtime win against the third-seeded Dacin Tigers in their semi-final opener. They needed just five games to tame the Cats, winning the best-of-seven series 4-1.
“We are not going to make the same mistake again this year, you can be sure of that,” Taiwan Beer head coach Yen Chia-hua said in an interview, referring to his team’s meltdown in the final three games of last year’s championship finals.
Yen and the rest of the Brew Crew have their work cut out for them, as the Builders will try to make it five titles in five finals appearances to remain unbeaten in title series.
“We have only one goal, which is to win the title, and we will do everything we can to reach that goal,” Pure Youth head coach Ben Metcalf said earlier this week.
It will not be an easy task for the Builders either, as the Brew Crew dominated their five regular-season games, winning four with an average margin of victory of 8.8 points.
Though some might argue that results from the regular season are not a good indicator of post-season form, the wins should be a mental boost for Taiwan Beer, especially in the opener.
How well Liu Cheng plays against the high-pressure Pure Youth defense and how quickly Taiwan Beer get back on defense to minimize their exposure to the patented Builders’ transition game will likely determine the series.
Also worth noting is the play of the Brew Crew’s emerging star Chiang Yu-an, who has improved steadily to establish himself as one of the premier slashers in the league with an unbelievable first step that could mean trouble for the Builders half-court defense.
If the point guard is allowed too much penetration, it will create some easy basket opportunities for the Brew Crew.
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the
RSS