PREVIEWS - JANUARY 2008
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PREVIEWS - JANUARY 2008 |
An occasional (but weekly if I get the time) look at the forthcoming weekend's matches in the EBL.
Preview information from clubs, and from EB, will be included, where available.
w/e 20th January 2008
EBL DIVISION 1
London Leopards general manager Dave Ryan has appealed for more support for the club as they face one of their most important games of the season.
The
Big Cats can take an outright lead at the top of the EBL Division One if
they defeat Derby Trailblazers at
“When
we returned to
“We’re not even covering the costs of staging the games, and there are a lot of other expenses associated with running a club at this level.
“We’ve got an exciting young team, we’re doing better than last year despite the absence of so-called star players, and we’re playing some good basketball. It’s hard to work out why the crowds have dropped so much.”
Ryan
did warn that unless the crowds improve during the second half of the
season, the future of the club at
“We can’t continue like this in the long-run. Financially it’s impossible, and it’s a bit soul destroying to be playing in front of small crowds.
“There’s no back-up plan, and we’re not looking for an excuse to leave Ware, but we do need to increase our gates.”
The Big Cats have announced that they have slashed admission prices by around 35% for Saturday’s game, with adult tickets cut to £5.00 and children to £3.00.
“We know money’s tight after Christmas, and we hope that this persuades people to come and support us on Saturday” said Ryan.
Leopards
will face a
Saturday’s
action at
Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder have to put a disappointing start to 2008 behind them this weekend, as 2007 BBL Champions Guildford Heat come to the Leisure Centre in the BBL Trophy on Saturday (8pm tip) as part of a tough double header weekend that sees them make the trip to perennial rivals Reading Rockets on Sunday.
With American guard Demetrius Scott having missed the first weekend of the year and being less than fully fit for the National Cup final last weekend having sprained his ankle, the club is hoping that a further week's physiotherapy will see him able to play a bigger part in this weekend's games.
Sunday sees the team travel to Berkshire to play Reading for the first league meeting this season.
The clubs met before Christmas where a lack of available venues in Reading meant that the National Cup semi-final was played in Bracknell. Thunder emerged victorious that day, but with Rockets having made personnel changes it will be a different looking side that enters the fray on Sunday.
With Thunder having lost their last league game against Sheffield, the two teams have identical 5-1 records as part of a four way tie with Manchester and Leopards at the top of Division 1, so this match is crucial for both sides' hopes in staying in touch in the title race.
Worthing will need to be
on top of their game on Sunday to come away from Berkshire with the win,
but if the team can recapture the form it was in before the Christmas
break then it should be a great game.
On Sunday at 4 pm at Rivermead, Reading Rockets take on joint League leaders Worthing Thunder in a top of the table encounter.
This clash of the titans between 2 of the 3 top teams over the last 3 seasons will give the victors a psychological advantage in the League championship, the tightest for 4 seasons.
Rockets' Head Coach Dave Titmuss is glad to see Rich Wellings has fully recovered from his broken nose of last weekend whilst Rockets' new signing, 6'10" Tom Sadler will make his home debut as Rockets seek to reverse the 8 point cup defeat to Thunder just 5 weeks ago.
EBL DIVISION 2
Kent Crusaders v. Team Northumbria
Saturday 19 January at 7.30; Body & Mind Leisure, Canterbury High School
The lights will go out as the cheerleaders start dancing this Saturday at the Body and Mind Leisure Centre as the curtain raiser for the EBL division 2 clash pitting Kent Crusaders against Team Northumbria. Fans this weekend will be the first to enjoy the Crusaders upgraded game experience which will include the Mavericks cheerleaders and a smoke and lights show making up a new pre-game introduction.
Not only will spectators be entertained off the court, the action on the court promises to be just as interesting with long time rivals Team Northumbria visiting. The Crusader’s history with Northumbria goes back to the 2006 Division 3 National Shield final, which saw Northumbria run away with the trophy.
Both teams won promotion to Division 2 that year and last season saw the teams split the two regular season games, with Crusaders running away with a win at Northumbria early in the season and Northumbria taking a close ought contest in Canterbury later in the season.
The games between the two sides have always been hard fought, physical affairs, and Crusaders head coach Mads Olesen doesn’t see that change this week: “Just like us, Northumbria has been hit by injury trouble to their best players, and have been struggling lately. Both teams will go out and fight for an important win!”
The away team comes to Canterbury with two wins in 2008 and a record of 5 wins and 4 losses for the season, so Crusaders will have to be at their best to avoid a repeat of last year when Northumbria took the spoils at the Body and Mind Centre.
Mads Olesen only has two players out of contention for this weekend with Robbie Parker’s prolonged absence and big man Dan Garrard being added to the injury list.
w/e 13th January 2008
NATIONAL CUP FINAL
Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder will look to bounce back from their disappointing start to 2008 when they head north to Derby to compete for the first piece of silverware of the season on Sunday.
Sunday's National Cup Final match up against Manchester Magic is a repeat of the 2007 final, with Worthing looking to gain revenge for their defeat 12 months ago as they go in search of the one Trophy they have yet to win in the club's relatively short history.
The two sides met just before Christmas with Thunder coming out narrow winners, but with the Thunder suffering two defeats last weekend and the Magic securing a comfortable win over West Anglia Fury it should set up a great final.
Thunder's preparations for the final have been hit hard with news that leading American guard Demetrius Scott is seriously doubtful for the game having suffered a sprained ankle in training last week. He missed both games last weekend and will be sitting out training this week whilst undergoing intense physiotherapy in an attempt to get him fit to play.
Thunder coach Rob Newson is understandably concerned about the absence of the team's leading scorer: 'Demetrius is the focal point for the team both from ours and an opponent's perspective - he is the glue that holds the team together and makes things happen, either for himself or his team mates. If opposition teams try and close him down he can create opportunities for the likes of Cleve (Woodfork) inside and the two Jameses (Brame and Mooney) outside. If they don't close him down then he will create things for himself.'
Looking ahead to the game on Sunday, Newson is planning a tough week in training: 'We need to pick ourselves up from the disappointment of last week and get back to where we were before Christmas, playing with confidence. We will be spending a lot of time this week on defence and getting our conditioning back, which was a factor in our defeats last weekend. Manchester has a lot of players that can score heavily and a number of capable outside shooters, so we will be working on getting out to them without giving up easy baskets inside. They have good players all the way down their bench, so we will be having an intense week concentrating on getting our offences back in sync and playing hard nosed defence to give us the best chance of bringing the cup home.'
The National Cup Final is being played at the Moorways Centre, Derby on Sunday at 3.30pm.
EBL DIVISION 1
Leopards will travel to
A Dan Howe basket put the visitors ahead by 12 with four first half minutes remaining before a Salter trey launched an 8-2 run to close the half out with Tigers leading 40-34. Leopards started the second half well, and a pair of Latham-Henry baskets gave them a 48-46 lead at the midway stage of the game. The home side seemed to take their foot off the pedal having regained the lead, and Tigers hit back with an 11-2 run, and never trailed again – reaching the final break with a 61-56 lead.
The
sides exchanged baskets during the opening stages of the fourth period,
with Leopards showing little sign of a comeback, and a Joe Andrews basket
with four and a half minutes of the game remaining put
While Leopards have rebuilt their team since that defeat – adding four senior players to their roster, Tigers have found the going touch in their debut season in the top flight, and are currently joint eighth with a 1-5 record.
Leopards had an unusual problem as they prepared for the trip to
The
“It beats the usual excuses of car breaking down or being unable to get off work” admitted general manager Dave Ryan. “It does mean that we wouldn’t have had any practice following the Christmas break, but the younger players have all been in action over the last couple of weeks, so hopefully it won’t be too much of a problem if they can get back. If not we’ll be without three players, Leigh Greenan, Nathan Wilson and Lukas Volskis, and assistant coach Lloyd Gardner.”
EBL DIVISION 2
Kent Crusaders @ Northampton Neptunes
Saturday 12 January at 4.30 pm
Kent Crusaders @ Black Country University of Wolverhampton
Sunday 13 January at 4.00 pm
The Body & Mind Kent Crusaders continue a demanding January schedule with another away double header this time to the Midlands to face Northampton Neptunes and Black Country University of Wolverhampton. With two losses Crusaders will sit last in the table, but a couple of wins will see them advance to a playoff spot.
Saturday Crusaders face Northampton in a rematch of the Patron’s Cup game where Crusaders suffered one of their heaviest defeats of the season. Northampton are a better home team than their league record of three wins and five losses suggests. They have defeated the top teams in the league at home, most recently beating previously undefeated Tees Valley, although they have also lost to the bottom teams away.
On Sunday Crusaders play a hugely important game against Black Country University of Wolverhampton. Black Country have also struggled in the first half of the season and find themselves bottom of division 2, and a Kent win would bring the Crusaders two wins clear of the relegation zone.
Robbie Parker is still unavailable for Crusaders, however Broadmore and Garrard should return giving head coach Mads Olesen almost a full strength squad for the weekend.
NATIONAL TROPHY
Last year Crusaders missed out on a semi-final place by the smallest of margins. Despite an impressive 86-74 win over Taunton Tigers other results went against Kent seeing them eliminated on points difference. Had Crusaders beaten Taunton by 2 more points they would have progressed to the next round.
On the other hand Leicester come to Crusaders as defending champions having won their first major trophy in this competition last season. The Warriors overcame Bristol in the final 61-55 which was played at the Newcastle Arena. Leicester also had a solid season in Division 2 finishing mid-table with 11 wins and 11 losses.
This is Crusaders' first game against Division 2 opposition this year coach Mads Olsen said ”It will be good to test the new Crusaders squad against Division 2 opposition”. So it is good news that Olsen can name a full strength side with JP Dimandja, Matt Rosenthal and James Harris all returning from injury.
Olesen had this to say about the upcoming game ”The key players are our big men, who will be giving up size against the Warriors, but on the other hand should have the advantage of being quicker". With this being a rematch of Crusaders' 78-57 victory over the Warriors last season it promises to be an exciting game.
The game tips off this Saturday at 7:30pm at the Body and Mind Leisure Centre in Canterbury. Tickets are available on the door.