Titans need their speed to beat Express
KITCHENER — It’s playoff time for pro basketball’s Kitchener-Waterloo Titans. And coach Serge Langis couldn’t be more excited.
“I can’t wait to get it going. Spread the word because it’s a special kind of basketball,” the head coach said in advance of his expansion Titans’ inaugural foray into the National Basketball League of Canada’s post season.
The third-place Titans will square off against divisional rivals, the second-seeded Windsor Express, in a best-of-five first-round series.
Games 1 and 2 go Friday and Sunday at the Atlas Tube Centre in Lakeshore, Ont., since the Express’s usual home at Windsor’s WFCU Centre is prepping for the Memorial Cup tournament.
Game 3 goes Wednesday at the Kitchener Aud. It’s a 7 p.m. tipoff. If necessary, Game 4, is May 12, also at the Aud.
“It’s going to be a heckuva series. I’m looking forward to it — especially with this group,” said Langis. “Our guys put in a lot of hard work over the season, and the second season is a lot of fun.
“I hope that the K-W region comes out and supports this. I would love to see 3,000 people come out into our building.”
The Titans averaged about 1,200 fans per game at the Kitchener Aud through 20 home dates in their inaugural regular season.
And those who attended were loud and proud. Local fans have adopted their new team, said Titans mainstay and league veteran Ed Horton.
“We hear the fans. We hear everything. Of course, we feed off their energy. We do,” said the former London Lightning guard and Shreveport, La., native.
The Titans will have their hands full with the two-time league champion Express, who won back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015.
The balanced and disciplined Express chugged to six wins in seven meetings with the Titans this season, including a 103-97 verdict in their last reunion on April 29.
“If we defend, share the basketball, we will be fine,” said Express guard Warren Ward, a London, Ont., native. “If we play the right way, I think we will be successful.”
To have their own success in this series, the Titans will have to use on their breakneck speed up and down the court in an attempt to disorient the methodical Express.
The 10-team league’s other playoff matchups feature: London against Orangeville, which was set to open on Thursday night; Halifax versus Moncton, opening Friday; and Saint John is already off to a 1-0 start in its series with the Prince Edward Island Storm.