Lagos (Vmobile Premier League) - The Vmobile premier basketball league enters week-six this weekend with six top flight matches on the billing in the Savannah and Atlantic conference of the Nigeria flagship competition.
Receiving its baptism of fire in the premier AHIP Giant basketball club of Kano will have to really prove if they are truly giant when it host top Savannah conference side Niger Potters basketball club of Minna in Kano on Sunday.
The youthful AHIP side has turned out to be the wipping team in the Savannah conference and Sunday encounter against the Abubakar Usman led Potters will be another test match for the home team who may want to earn some respect from the big boys by ensuring it recorded its first win.
Jos fans will have more than enough to cheer this weekend as the two teams representing Plateau State (Peaks and Tapgun) in the league will be at home to thrill their numerous fans the best they can offer.
On Friday the Rockets will attempt to pay back visiting Kano Pillars in its own coin when both sides file out for the race to the conference final-4 playoffs holding at a latter date in Kaduna.
The first meeting between both sides went the way of the Pillars who snashed victory by as much as 38 points margin of 98-60 points, while on Saturday Peaks will host Yelwa Hawks basketball club of Bauchi in what promises to be the most attractive pairing in the conference this weekend.
In their first meeting the Hawks run away with a slim a 61-59 points win which makes this weekend pairing to have generated so much attention as both teams would want to brighten their chances of a final-4 playoffs birth.
In the Atlantic conference Islanders will be the guest of Delta Force basketball club of Asaba who have vowed to pick the two points at stake to record its first win this season.
The Asaba based team narrowly lost the first encounter to the former premier league champion (66-63 points) making pundits to take their confident of beating the visitor coached by Toyin Sonoiki.
Saturday encounter between Dodan Warriors basketball club who tasted their first defeat last weekend when it went down to Ebun Comets basketball club 81-71 and Union Bank basketball club promises to leave fans divided as to who will carry the day.
Though the Owoicho Alexandra tutored Warriors side looks favoured to continue their campaign in the league by maintaining ahundred percent record until last weekend when Comets broke their invicibility may not find the encounter easy against the background that Union Bank would not want to lose to the Warriors a second time having lost the first encounter 78-73 points after over-time.
And on Sunday Comets basketball club being the home team this time will host Customs basketball club in another local derby.
With a record of 1-4 Customs inspirational guard Abdulrahman Mohammed have vowed that the border boys will make the playoff, so this weekend pairing against more determined Comets side promises to be explosive.
Olusegun Ikuesan
FIBA correspondent in Nigeria