Kwesi Mugisa, Staff ReporterST. GEORGE'S Slayers will continue their title defence when they take on Denham Town Wizards at 7:00 p.m., while top seeded Urban Knights take on the four-time champions Tivoli All-Stars at 5:00 p.m., when KFC/bmobile National Basketball League semi-final action tips off at the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC) today.
It was a fairly easy run to the semi-final round for all concerned except the defending champs, who had to struggle in a third game against sharp-shooting Link Up All-Stars. They actually found themselves facing elimination twice - being down 1-0 in the series and then trailing by 13 points in the deciding game three.
Slayers coach Winston Harvey believes his team's slow start has been responsible for them having to work so hard.
"Sometimes if we are not down by a couple of points we don't start to play well and that is a worrying trend," he said.
DANGEROUS TREND
In fact, against a Denham Town team which finished in the third place spot and easily finished off a tough Blazing Panthers to make it to the semi-finals, it could be a downright dangerous trend.
However. St. George's do have a couple of trends in their favour. In regular season against the Wizards they swept the series 2-0 and won by an average of six points. They were also the hottest team going into the final round, which they ended on a seven-game winning streak, sweeping past a faltering Wizards and taking over the second place spot on the last day of the season.
Urban Knights and Tivoli All-Stars are no strangers to fierce rivalry. Earlier in the season it was the All-Stars who got the better of the Knights to lift the DHL knockout title. But if they are to clear the Tivoli hurdle this could be the season, as they swept the regular season series 2-0 with the games being won by a fairly comfortable margin.
The west Kingston team, however, cannot be taken lightly and are always dangerous. Not only were they last year's runners up, but also defeated the Slayers on the first day of the season to lift the RJR Communications Group Trophy.
