Coming from a 31-point win over the New Taipei CTBC DEA on Sunday, Kaohsiung Aquas head coach Brendan Joyce told CNA he is preparing his team to “take care of business,” showing his determination to enter Taiwan’s pro basketball T1 LEAGUE playoffs on the top spot.
After the 123-92 win against the New Taipei CTBC DEA, the Aquas, which are currently leading the six team league rankings with a 19-6 card, only have five more games to play before the end of the regular season, and have a good chance locking in as the top team if they can win their next back-to-back games on the weekend.
The southern port city team will be hosting the Tainan TSG GhostHawks Saturday and the Taoyuan Leopards Sunday, and both of the visiting teams are down towards the bottom of the league rankings after only winning five games each this season.
“That’s my focus, to make sure the team doesn’t disrespect those teams. If we respect them, we will take care of business; if we don’t, and disrespect them, there could be an upset loss,” Joyce said in an interview with CNA Sunday.
The Australian veteran coach Joyce explained that teams in the league have picked up new import players and have been improving as the season progressed.
The GhostHawks and the Leopards have been no exception. They have enlisted Dominica-born naturalized Indonesian 2.06-meter power forward Lester Prosper and American 2.06-meter center Elijah Thomas, respectively.
“So, we will focus on what we need to do to beat those two teams, because if you look at the Leopards and the GhostHawks, if you don’t respect them, they will beat you,” Joyce said.
And only just a few hours after Joyce made that statement Sunday, the GhostHawks caused a huge 122-109 upset of the Taipei-based TaiwanBeer HeroBears at the University of Taipei’s Tianmu campus gym.
Currently ranked third in the league rankings and one of two teams from the regionally renowned Taiwan Beer basketball organization, the HeroBears have also previously fallen twice to the GhostHawks this season.
Furthermore, also vying for the top spot contention are the Taichung Wagor Suns, which are currently ranked second with a 15-9 record. The Suns are only 3.5 games behind the Aquas and also have five more games to play before the end of the regular season.
Looking ahead, Joyce said he will be intensifying practice more in the next couple of weeks in preparation for the playoffs.
“I’ll be stepping up practice and for our bench to go high intensity and we’ll withdraw the loading a little bit as we get towards the end of the season. So that’s part of the plan, stepping up our intensity without people getting injured, so it’s a balancing act,” Joyce said.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel