One of the highlights of the basketball season 2023/24 is on the schedule on Saturday. At the Coque ARENA in Kirchberg, the cup finals will be played. We talked to both national team head coaches before the games.
In the women’s final, the top teams Gréngewald Hueschtert and T71 Dudelange will meet. During the season, Gréngewald won all 3 games against the opponent, however, the last game in the play-offs between both games was very close, Gréngewald came up with a 93:91 victory at home in a very entertaining game.
„It is the duel between the two strongest teams in this year’s championship, both teams have earned to play this final in front of a big crowd. I expect a very interesting and thrilling game » says national team head coach Mariusz Dziurdzia. „After a strong season so far, Gréngewald earns the role of the favorite to start the game. The way the team has been playing this season with their super strong trio of Logic, Cahill and Van Kleunen, I would say that beating this team in a play-off series is nearly impossible. However, this is the cup final and one game will decide about the outcome so that Dudelange will have a chance if they play at their best. T71 has played better recently and the last game between both teams was very close which should give them confidence. »
Dziurdzia notes that Dudelange will have to slowd down Samantha Logic, the former WNBA player is the „head of Gréngewald’s game » and it will be a challenge for Dudelange to control the strong guard. „Samantha is clearly the key player, she controls the game and the ball. If T71 allows her to play free and is not able to keep the ball out of her hands sometimes, she will be able to decide the game. » A key player on the site of Dudelange will be Ehis Etute. „Ehis has not been playing at her best this season overall, but she is always able to show a monster game with 30 points and 20 rebounds at any time. T71 needs her inside presence in this cup final, she needs to be productive in order for her team to have a chance. »
In the men’s cup final, Résidence Walfer and Sparta Bertrange will meet. While Résidence finished the regular season in 4th, Sparta enters the play-offs as the number 8 seed.
First of all, national team head coach expects that the hype surrounding basketball in Luxembourg over the recent past will have its influence on the number of suporters. „The cup final always attracts a lot of people and I expect the same this year. »
Diederich thinks that „Résidence enters the final as the slight favorite. The team combines quality with experience. They play with 3 professional players, some former professional players and have some of the top JICL players with Oliver Vujakovic and Xavier Robert-Francois. However, they have not played well lately after showing a strong performance at the cup semi final in January. »
Diederich notes that Sparta Bertrange will „have to show a fast playing style because Résidence has the advantages in setplay situations. Résidence’s biggest strength is their presence under the baskets, the team is extremely tall and their defense can be strong. Sparta needs to score points in transition situations and attack Résidence as much they can, that will become decisive for them. If they can get keep the tempo high for most parts of the game, I think that it will become a very interesting and entertaining game. »
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