THE South West Slammers, East Perth Eagles and Mandurah Magic will all have to cause upsets to win their men's SBL quarter finals starting this weekend but it's a challenge they are not shying away from.

The Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers and Orange Autos Rockingham Flames were the runaway top two teams in the men's SBL for much of the regular season and ended up finishing first and second with the Perth Redbacks and Lakeside Lightning rounding out the top four.

However, only five games separated first to eighth in the standings by the end of the regular season highlighting the tightness of the competition meaning that the Stirling Senators, Mandurah Magic, Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles and Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers have good reason to give themselves a chance of causing an upset in the quarter finals starting this weekend.

The first versus eighth battle is a contest between regional powers with the Geraldton Buccaneers taking on the South West Slammers.

South West Slammers playing coach Ty Harrelson is proud to have led his team to the playoffs for a second straight season following a nine-year absence.

He has a good group to work with too with not only himself still leading the way but with new import Markus Monroe as well as Clive Weeden, Wade Hitchcock and Trent Worthington at his disposal.

While fully aware of the challenge presented by the minor premier Buccaneers, Harrelson has his chargers fully prepared for battle.

"The Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers are excited to be back in the playoffs for the 2nd consecutive season. After starting our season 2-5 we have managed to finish 12-7 heading into the post-season," Harrelson said.

"Our core group has committed to turning the club's fortunes around and we hope to continue to be a competitive team during both the regular and post-season for years to come. Geraldton is a great team and we look forward to the challenge.

"Just two weeks ago we won a match up against the Buccs that helped us solidify a playoff spot. There are several great match ups to watch for in this series and it will make for exciting playoff basketball."

The East Perth Eagles' best form throughout the 2014 season showed that they deserve to be considered as genuine championship contender, but coach Adam Forde knows it's now going to be a big job to advance to the semi finals by coming up against the second-placed Flames.

"It’ll be a tough couple of weeks coming up. Rockingham have maintained a top two spot all season as they are led by a talented and experienced group. We now need to get more consistent more than ever, especially from quarter to quarter," Forde said.

"We can’t afford to play well for some parts of the game and then absolutely blow it in others as Rocko will make you pay, especially if Cooper or Godfrey gets firing. That's our biggest flaw at this stage, but it's now or never, if you can’t play well for finals then nothing else will be able to motivate you."

Meanwhile, Orange Autos Rockingham Flames coach Mark Utley won't be taking the Eagles lightly by any stretch of the imagination.

"Excited to be back in the finals and can't wait for the games to begin," Utley said.

"The Eagles are a tough deep team, with playoff experience. Will be a good hard fought series."

The Mandurah Magic men have made the playoffs for a third straight season and did so by already having played some must-win matches in the lead up in particular last Saturday night against the Slammers.

The Magic won that contest to make the playoffs at the expense of the Joondalup Wolves and to end up finishing in sixth position with a 15-11 record and to set up a quarter-final match up with the Perth Redbacks.

The Redbacks are on a six-game winning streak coming into the playoffs and have two hot imports in the form of Stan Okoye and Lee Roberts, but Magic coach Jason Chalk has full confidence in his team to continue defying the odds with their backs against the wall.

"We had our backs against the wall last week just to make the playoffs," Chalk said.

"This week will be tough against the inform Redbacks. My guys have always showed guts and character when they are up against it and I am confident they will come through."

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography