'This is the one everyone wants to see'
“We may not have seen a whole lot of each other, but we’ve been eyeing each other up," says Liam Kinsella in the run up to the National Cup Final Photo: Paul Dargan
THE game that will decide the destination of this season’s President’s National Cup is undoubtedly one of the most eagerly-anticipated fixtures in the men’s basketball calendar, as the unbeaten ND Audit Portlaoise Panthers and Limerick Celtics lock horns in the National Basketball Arena on Saturday at 3.30pm.
Both sides sit well clear at the top of their respective conferences in Division One and remain the only two teams in the league that can boast a zero in the loss column, but something will have to give this weekend.
Liam Kinsella will certainly be doing his utmost to help ensure that it is Panthers who preserve their perfect record on Saturday and, in turn, lift the Men’s National Cup for the very first time in the club’s history.
And, while the Portlaoise power forward fully appreciates that he and his team mates face the greatest challenge in their biggest game ever, he also firmly believes they have the necessary depth and talent to complete their march to the title this weekend.
“This is the one everyone wants to see,” Kinsella told the “Two teams who haven’t lost a game all season.
“We may not have seen a whole lot of each other, but we’ve been eyeing each other up. They’re the benchmark for us, just like we are for them.
“But that’s what you want in basketball. You want the big occasion, the big loud crowds.
“These are two clubs who’ve been in the National League a long time, who have a big home crowd and who bring huge crowds to away games.
“They’re both really family-orientated clubs and it’s going to be a great occasion, even apart from the basketball.
“But it’s going to be tough one. Celtics have always been good down through the years. They’ve always been a big, strong, physical team that plays solid defence and they’re just so hard to break down.
“But you’re going to have to play the top teams at some stage. You’re not going to win a league or a cup without playing good teams,” he said.
Limerick certainly boast no shortage of lethal weapons in their armoury, with the likes of Ariyon Williams, Finn Hughes and Abdul Wurie well capable of racking up big numbers on any given occasion, while Hughes has also proven a serious threat under the boards having averaged 11 rebounds in his last three games.
Yet Portlaoise pride themselves on the depth they possess in their 2024/25 squad, with head coach, Jack Scully having seriously bolstered his side in the summer following the arrival of American forward, Eric Anderson and Serbian guard Aleksandar Kovacevic, along with two of the most experienced campaigners in the National League, Xabi Arriaga and Kevin Donohoe.
The return of James Phelan and Gary Morrissey to the Panthers set-up has been another massive boost to the side that already boasted a core of strong home-grown talent in the likes of Kinsella, Davin McEvoy, Dylan Dunne, Cillian O’Connell and Kyle Burke.
“I think our biggest strength all year long has been that we have seven or eight lads who can get into double digits on any given night, and teams are going to have to pick their poison against us,” insisted Kinsella.
“If you stop Xabi on the perimeter and outside shooting threes, then you have Eric on the inside. And if you try and stop him, then you have the reverse, or you’ll have Alex [Kovacevic] or James in the far corner, or you’ll have Davin coming downhill.
“We have threats all over the floor. We’re just so versatile and we can go off in so many different areas. That’s our huge advantage.
“We’ll do the best we can to neutralise Limerick’s threats. I think we first have to slow down [Ariyon] Williams. He’s playing great basketball and he’s a big part in why they’re having such a successful season.
“[Finn] Hughes is another one who’s been doing really well. He stepped up there and had 31 points on Saturday night in a tough semi-final against Tolka, so he’s a real danger.
“But if we play our game and play the way we can, then they’re going to have to try and stop us, which I think will prove difficult when coming down to the fourth quarter and the legs are getting tired,” he maintained.
Kinsella will be hoping Portlaoise can fully capitalise on that depth on Saturday night, knowing just what a victory in the final would mean to him, his team and the entire club.
“Winning the National Cup would be everything. It just gives me goose bumps thinking about it” he said.
“There’s a core group of eight or nine lads there who would have played underage basketball with Portlaoise. We’ve grown up in Portlaoise, we’re town men.
“This would be huge. It’s something that we’ve never achieved. It’s one of those big days that you’re going to look back on in years to come.
“And to do it with the lads that I grew up playing basketball with, and who I’m friends with since a young age, it would be just so very special.”
