The men’s BOV League has reached a season peak as reigning champions Athleta A-Z Electronics and Cynergi Virtus will go head-to-head in a best-of-five play-off final which gets under way with Game One next Wednesday.
For Athleta, reaching the final series has now become somewhat customary as they have contested the title showdown in each of the last 14 seasons. Last year, they beat Luxol to become champions having conceded the title to Floriana the season before.
Virtus Cynergi were only formed last year so this will be their first big occasion even though for the major part of the players on their roster this will be no new experience.
Paul Sultana, president of the Malta Basketball Association, told a news conference yesterday he is anticipating a very close final between ‘the two strongest teams this season’.
“There is great sense of anticipation for what we are expecting to be a very exciting final,” Sultana said.
“Results showed that Athleta and Virtus were the two strongest teams this season and I think they deserve to be in the final. My hope is that the public will attend in big numbers to provide a fitting atmosphere for the highlight of our season.”
Athleta go into the series enjoying a psychological edge as they have won both league matches against Virtus this season – 84-58 in the first round and a close 69-67 in the return.
They have also outsmarted Virtus in the two-legged Louis Borg Cup final, one of four honours they scooped so far this campaign.
However, for veteran Athleta coach Joe Galea past meetings will have little bearing on the destiny of this year’s championship.
“I don’t think that previous matches can influence the performance of any of the two teams in the final,” Galea, who has won over 50 honours since taking charge of Athleta 19 years back, said.
“What happened this season is all in the past and I’m sure that Virtus, like Athleta, will produce their best play in the next five matches.
“True, we’re not short in basketball honours but I can assure you that the players are always hungry for success and we’re all determined to retain our trophy.”
Virtus coach Paul Ferrante said his team will start as underdogs even though they’ve already shown that they have all cards in place to upset Athleta.
“Athleta are the champions and start favourites but we had some good matches against them this season and that fills us with confidence ahead of the final series,” Ferrante, who led Floriana to the 2013 championship title at Athleta’s expense, said.
“My players are hitting top form at the right moment and the return of captain Peter Shoults from injury is a major plus for us. We respect Athleta but we will do everything we can to mark our first season with the league title.”
Peter Perotti, BOV chief officer, yesterday announced that basketball journalists will vote for the Most Valuable Player of the final series.
“Previous encounters between these two teams have always resulted in high-intensity, exciting basketball and we are looking forward to crown the top team of the season,” Perotti said.
“The BOV MVP award, introduced at the KO competition earlier this season, will once again feature in this final where the top performing player in the series, selected by specialist media, will be presented with a commemorative trophy.”
If the final series requires all five play-offs to determine a winner, the decider will be played on Friday, May 1.