Conor Meany on basketball: Killester favourites but good luck betting against Demons in the Cup
CORK V DUBLIN: Killester's Kason Harrell and Patrick Robinson from UCC Demons. Pic: INPHO/Dan Sheridan
The rivalry has had lots of great battles, with the 2009 season amongst the best. Colin O’Reilly was back in Ireland for the first time and he led a Demons team against a star-studded Killester team including Paddy Kelly. Demons won both the league and Cup that season as the two teams played at a significantly higher level than the rest of the country. The following year Killester got their revenge by humiliating Demons in a cup final that Killester led by as many as 36. Kyle Hosford, Danny O’Mahony and Jonny Grennell all played in at least one of those past games and will have sharp memories of them as they prepare for Saturday night at the National Basketball Arena.
Since Elijah Tillman arrived in Ireland at Christmas last year, Demons have been one of the best teams in the country. They have an identity playing through the big man and most teams have struggled to deal with it. One team, though, has been very effective against them - Killester. Knocking them out of the playoffs last year and beating them earlier this season, the Dublin side have been the better team in the two sides' recent meetings. A big reason for that is that Killester are the one team in Ireland that can match Demons offensive firepower, and the run-and-gun style that works so well for Demons may actually help Killester too. The league game earlier in the year didn’t tell too much as Demons had played Killorglin the night before and Killester were rested, but Killester will feel they have the upper hand in the matchup.
TV viewers should be happy because we are going to see offence, and lots of it, on Saturday. Both teams are fast-paced and rank first and second in the league in points per game. The way they score is very different, with Demons establishing their big man, Tillman, and surrounding him with shooting. Killester have no traditional inside presence and instead rely on their incredible guard trio of Kason Harrell, Isiah Dasher and Paul Dick to drive and kick the ball to create scores. That trio combined for 75 in the league game earlier this year and Demons need to find a way to slow them down. Zone is a possibility but even with that Killester are great at running at you before you ever set up your defence.
Killester need to swarm Elijah Tillman in the post whenever they can and maintain a fast pace to try and fatigue the big man. The biggest concerns for Killester will be if they were to go cold from the perimeter in the Arena like they did in the league final. That’s unlikely, the bigger concern would be a tight referee's whistle on the big day leading to foul trouble for a key player. For Demons to win they need to be locked in for all 40 minutes. They are still guilty of switching off mentally and Killester are so powerful that they will punish them. My fear for Demons is that they can try win games all through offence and this is the one offence that can overpower them. Killester are favourites but good luck betting against Demons in the Cup.
Defence wins championships is the mantra that both Women's Cup finalists, Killester and Liffey Celtics, live by. The two are top of the league and rank 1st and 2nd in points allowed per game. Liffey have the best defence but are just 6th in scoring while Killester are 2nd in defence and 3rd in scoring. Neither team will overpower the other in the half-court and it’s hard to see how this game won’t be won in the late 60s or 70s.
Liffey Celtics felt they threw away the league meeting between the teams in Clontarf as Killester came from behind to beat them 74-72 in overtime. Michelle Clarke and Aine O’Connor led the two teams in scoring as both teams’ Americans were curtailed. Killester’s Samantha Halby is the most dynamic of the import players and she was held to 13 points, ten below her league average. Whether Liffey can limit her again will be a big question. Liffey for their part had 19 turnovers which can't happen against good teams. If they mind the ball better they have a great shot at the Cup.
Killester needs to find a way to get Samantha Halby going. She’s the best of the Americans on show and the biggest X-factor going into the game. Sharpshooters Ieva Bagdanaviciene and Michelle Clarke will reap the benefits if Halby gets going and that’s when Killester are at their best. Ensuring that they don’t turn it over and fuel Liffey’s break is critical too. For Liffey, they need to play their great defence like usual. I think the biggest thing for them will be ensuring that they have spacing in the half-court and don’t force anything. They have greater depth but are very reliant on Irish scoring which isn’t always guaranteed in finals. The more they can rotate their players and keep the tempo up the better it should be for them. I think Halby makes Killester slight favourites, but Liffey have been here and done it before and have Irish internationals throughout the squad. This game will come down to the wire.
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