Cork Basketball: UCC Demons wary of wounded Neptune with nothing to lose

When UCC Demons and Energywise Ireland Neptune go head-to-head anything goes and one of the biggest rivalries in Irish sport will clash on Saturday in the Men’s Super League quarter-final play-off at the Mardyke Arena (3pm).

In the last couple of years, Demons have been the dominant team between the two clubs in which they won a National Cup and finished runner-up in the other.

Many pundits will have Demons hot favourites to win but having that tag going into this derby can sometimes be dangerous.

Few would doubt Demons are a better side but the manner they lost last Sunday to Eanna was disappointing. Defence has been a huge problem for Demons all season and with the rims at the Mardyke Arena suitable for any decent shooter that could be a problem for the hosts.

The Sunday’s Well outfit are a good scoring team but the manner they defend their basket isn’t for the purist.

At one stage in the Eanna game, they trailed by 21 points but in the blink of an eye they had reduced the deficit without breaking sweat.

The underdogs tag will suit Neptune but looking at them last weekend against Sligo All-Stars made for poor viewing.

Americans Tamyrik Fields and Chance Hunter are capable of hurting Demons although the latter was very poor in their defeat at Sligo.

Conor O’Sullivan has departed to Australia and with Roy Downey gone down the pecking order coach Pat Price seems to be using Cian Heaphy at the point.

Darragh O’Sullivan isn’t a bad shooter but at times his options border on the ridiculous and he will need to be smarter. The Neptune Bosman Jaksa Sola is hard to weigh up but again if he doesn’t get the required attention from Demons defence he will hurt them.

In my book, the game will be decided on how Demons set up Elijah Tillman at the post as he could be the pivotal player in this clash.

The return of Kyle Hosford will help Demons and surely if they play to their strengths and give Neptune respect they should be good enough to shade this intriguing clash.

DAUNTING

Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig after their sluggish end to their regular season campaign had to be content with seventh place and they now face a daunting trip to play second seeds Killester at Clontarf this evening.

The former champions have already defeated Killester at home this season and will be not be overawed by their Dublin opponents.

In fairness on their day, Ballincollig are probably one of the best sides in the country when it comes to playing stringent defence and they will need all their skills in that department to halt the Killester march.

The recent injury to Adrian O’Sullivan has weakened the Cork side and it's unknown whether or not he will be fit for this game after missing their last three games.

On the professional end Joshua Tomaic, Quashawn Lane and Jake Wolfe are capable of putting up the numbers when in full flow.

Wolfe in particular is a born warrior and has been a revelation all season for the club at both ends of the court.

In the case of Lane, he went through a scoring drought a month ago that affected his side but in last week’s win over Templeogue looked back to his best.

In this game, Lane will have to be focused at both ends of the floor as the Killester professional duo of Kason Harrell and Isiah Dasher are lightning-quick in transition.

Joshua Tomaic the Spanish-born Bosman had an inconsistent season in the Ballincollig colours and tends to pick up silly fouls. Tomaic is also inconsistent in the offence court and his team will be banking on him to stay on court and have a season-best against the cup champions.

Ballincollig also have experienced Irish players in Ciaran O’Sullivan and Keelan Cairns, but they will need a huge display over 40 minutes to have any chance of toppling this talented Killester side.