Ballincollig and Neptune face huge difficult national cup games this weekend

National cup basketball is certainly high on the priority list of the holders Ballincollig and Energywise Ireland Neptune with both having home mouth- watering preliminary first round games tomorrow.

Ballincollig welcome UCD Marian to the MTU Arena (4pm) on the back of a derby defeat to UCC Demons and player coach Ciaran O’Sullivan will have concerns with the present form of his squad.

It is well documented Ballincollig have struggled to sign a professional post player this season and their present squad are playing a shooting game outside the arc.

Everything is fine in that department when shots are dropping but against Demons after a reasonable start their scoring dried up in the second half and their challenge eventually petered out.

Last season Ballincollig had three quality professionals in Latavious Mitchell, Latrell Jossell and Josh Steel and this trio played a huge part in completing the elusive double.

The inside presence of Mitchell was crucial and it made Ballincollig a formidable unit at both ends of the court.

The latest Ballincollig recruit Zachary Davis is quick but it may take him a few games to get into the groove of the Irish Super League as he gave up some silly fouls in the Demons defeat but coming from a good college background he is sure to improve.

A J Williams is a serious scorer but was completely restricted against Demons and only produced a five- point tally.

On the Irish front Keelan Cairns made a good return following his paternity leave nailing four monstrous three pointers and Adrian O’Sullivan will always give 100% at both ends of the floor.

UCD Marian will come to Cork in full knowledge that on their best day they have a chance of toppling Ballincollig as they match up well.

Americans Tanner Graham and Isiah Taylor are quality players but it’s the quality coaching of Ioannis Liapakis that could pose Ballincollig problems as he is known to be a good game planner.

If coach Liapakis has watched Ballincollig’s game with Demons he will be under no illusions his team need to restrict their shooting that could be key to them gaining a shock win.

On the other side of the coin the Ballincollig coach Ciaran O’Sullivan is very astute, and he will know tactics will have to change in this game.

In a good competitive cup game Americans usually cancel one another out and Ballincollig’s Irish brigade of Adrian O’Sullivan, Keelan Cairns and Dylan Corkery will need to be at it.

Surely Ballincollig will bring their A game to the table and secure a home quarter final clash against UCC Demons.

The Neptune stadium will also be rocking tomorrow evening when Belfast Star are in town for a clash with Energywise Ireland Neptune (6.45).

Neptune travelled to the capital on Sunday and gained a crucial win over Killester in the Men’s Super League and backed by their fanatical fans they are sure to test the credentials of their northern opponents.

New Neptune coach Adam Drummond seems to have brought structure back to the club at this level and their American trio of Sam Smith, Jalen Hodge and Kendall Taylor are quality players in the offence court.

The biggest problem for Neptune is how they are defending right now because they are consistently giving up big numbers.

Coaching at every level is crucial but in the Super League its crucial particularly in games of this magnitude.

To be fair the Star coach Adrian Fulton is top notch and he will no doubt have done his homework on Neptune.

The problem Star have right now is they seem to start slowly in the majority of games and then only play in snatches.

Coach Fulton will know a repeat of last week’s home loss to Sligo All Stars will not suffice as this Neptune team are a good scoring outfit.

The Star Americans are decent but Jordan Green’s 15- point contribution against Sligo will not suffice with the second Star American Shane Bell finishing with 35 points.

Neptune will need to be smart in how they approach this game and players like Sean McCarthy cannot afford to get caught up with the importance of the game.

Roy Downey, who came out of retirement to help Neptune maintain their Super League status last season chipped in with 11 points against Killester and he will need to repeat those figures for his team to gain the all-important win.

The Neptune stadium has hosted many great games in its 40-year history and their loyal fans will be hoping for another great chapter in the club’s history by winning this intriguing encounter.