Ballarat Miners coach Brendan Joyce is expecting nothing short of vengeance from Bendigo and Albury-Wodonga this weekend in the NBL1 competition.
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The Miners will travel to Bendigo today to take-on the Braves in the first of a two-game double-header which concludes against the Albury-Wodonga Bandits at home on Sunday.
It will be the first meeting between the clubs since the Miners beat the Braves in round two. Joyce anticipated a spirited performance from Bendigo which sit just outside the top-eight and are fighting to make playoffs.
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"Across the board they've got players capable of putting big points on the board," he said.
"With the talent level they've got, they're good enough to be in the finals."
Albury-Wodonga however will have a different set of motives.
The Bandits were on the receiving end of a humiliating 63-point thrashing from the Miners last month.
The deficit was among the largest in the Miners' history, and the biggest since 10 minute quarters were introduced into the Australian professional ranks.
Joyce described the win as an "out-of-the-box performance" from his squad, in which the team played a near perfect game of basketball.
He said the Miners will be ready for a response from the Bandits, who are likely seeking redemption.
"We can't control what their emotions are, but I know as a player if that happened to me, I'd certainly want to come out and prove a point," he said.
"We can only focus on what we can control, and believe me we're not going to be taking them lightly."
I know as a player if that happened to me, I'd certainly want to come out and prove a point.
- Brendan Joyce
The last meeting between the two sides was also the platform where Miners' big-man Deng Acuoth tallied a career-best 11 blocked shots.
The performance gained the forward widespread attention following the match, and cemented his status as a force to be reckoned with around the league.
"A lot of teams have been more cautious of me since that game, so it's been good," Acuoth said.
Acuoth told The Courier he would try to replicate his career-game, but said he wasn't too concerned about individual numbers.
He had every faith his team could win two from two this weekend.
"We're always confident, we're at the top of the ladder so we have all the confidence in the world and we're not really worried about anybody," he said.
The Miners will tip-off against the Braves at 7.30pm before returning to Ballarat to face the Bandits at 2pm on Sunday.
