The men’s finals series will be played this week. T71 and Basket Esch will compete in a best-of-3-series that has the potential to be extremely entertaining and competitive. A few things stand out before the start of the series.
1. 3 games in 6 days
If this series goes to a 3rd game, both teams will play 3 games in 6 days. Game 1 will be played on Tuesday in Dudelange, game 2 on Friday in Esch and a potential game 3 in Dudelange on Sunday.
2. Best teams of the regular season eliminated
The number 3 seed (T71) will face the number 4 seed (Esch) in this finals. The two best teams of the regular season, Etzella (1) and Résidence (2) were eliminated in the semi-finals. T71 now has home-court advantage with supporters in their back.
3. Winning the title on the court
Basket Esch is the defending champion. However, everybody knows that the last year’s title is not as valuable as a title that is actually won on the court. This year, Esch will have the chance to show that they are the best team in the country on the court.
4. Double title possible
As there was no cup competition this season, a regular double title is not possible. However, T71 will have the chance to win a « double » as their women team won the championship a few days ago. As T71 Dudelange is celebrating its 50th anniversary this season, this would be an amazing way to celebrate that event.
5. One last dance
Tom Schumacher and Frank Muller, 2 of the best luxembourgish players over the last years, will end their career after this series. Obviously both players want to finish with a title and they are clearly ready for one last dance. Schumacher has shown in the play-in game and semi-finals that he is in good shape and Frank Muller has been playing well all season and won the JICL MVP award this season. Furthermore, coach Ken Diederich will also leave the club after the season. Extra-motivation for everybody involves!
6. Inside duell
2 of the most dominant players in the league will meet head-to-head in a crucial battle under the baskets. Clancy Rugg (Esch, 23.3 points per game, 13.1 rebounds) and Steve Harris (T71 , 25.6 points, 10.9 rebounds) will definitely have a big battle in the paint. Earlier this season, Harris had a monster-dunk over Rugg, watch the video here –> Harris dunks over Rugg
7. Offense wins games, defense wins championships
T71 scored the most points this season (92.8 per game), Basket Esch was the 3rd best scoring team with 88.8 points per game. It will be interesting to see if the scores will reach these high marks during this finals and which team will be able to limit the other team’s scoring. Both teams have some identical stats for the season: T71 and Esch both made exactly 15.8 free-throws per game and both teams also scored 8.7 threes, what a coincidence!
8. Professional scoring power
The 4 professional players are under the top 7 scorers of the league! Harris led the league in scoring (25.6 points per game), Jackson-Cartwright scored 24.7 points (second in the ranking), Rugg was 4rd in the ranking with 23.3 points per game and Ivey was 7th in that ranking with 21.3 points.
9. New possibilities
The addition of Ben Kovac before the play-offs certainly gives Basket Esch new possibilties. Kovac has gained experience in the Netherlands, he is playing with full confidence and has had a big impact since his return. T71 won both meetings this season with a difference of 15 and 14 points, but these numbers do not mean much, especially because key players were missing in in both games and Kovac was not there yet.
10. Great finish to a difficult season
The season 2020/21 was not an easy one for all people that were a part of it. Finishing this special season with a finals-series with supporters in the stands is something that we could only hope for 2-3 months ago. After the women’s finals were already extraordinary, the men’s finals will clearly be another big highlight to finish the season.
Pictures: Albert Krier / T71.lu / Robert and Maya Straus / rtl.lu
