Giants confident ahead of must-win clash against NBL1 rivals in Mandurah

Goldfields Giants interim coach Lennon Smartt has declared the squad at full strength for Friday night’s must-win NBL1 semifinal against Mandurah on the road.

The Giants lost two games against the Magic in May, 107-94 and 87-78, but compiled an identical 13-9 win-loss record to their rivals during the qualifiers.

Percentage, however, enabled Mandurah to finish one place higher than the Giants, who kept their championship hopes alive by beating Warwick in last Saturday’s elimination final.

Mandurah, who earned a double chance in the play-offs by finishing fourth, are coming off a six-point loss to Geraldton in the qualifying final.

“We had a couple of great sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday night — short and sharp because there’s no need to reinvent the wheel now,” Smartt said.

“We’re reinforcing what we already know and implementing some things that we want to put in place for the weekend.

“Everyone is in good health, which is the most important thing, and we have great energy.”

Among the keys to Goldfields’ chances will be their ability to nullify the division’s newly crowned MVP, Joel Murray.

“They (Mandurah) are a really good team, well coached and with the reigning MVP, which is always handy,” Smartt said.

“We respect them, but in no way do we fear them.

“We’re rolling — we’ve done well over the past month or so apart from one bad game that wasn’t us.

“But we’re back to our identity — high-energy, high-octane, and that game plan will be no different tomorrow (Friday) night.

“That said, they (Mandurah) got us twice earlier in the season but are coming off a loss last weekend so we have to be on our guard.

“But if we stick to the principles we’ve set all year, we’ll put ourselves in good stead to win that game.”

If the Giants win on Friday night, they will advance to a preliminary final against Joondalup on Sunday.

The grand final is on August 10 at RAC Arena.