The 10 Best Basketball Stories of 2009

1. The Win That Almost Was. September 8 2009. Warsaw. 3:27 left in the fourth quarter. Spain – reigning world champions, Olympic silver medallists – are staring a most improbable defeat in the face to Great Britain after leading by 16 points at one stage. Mike Lenzly puts the underdogs 73-69 ahead. The sound of pins dropping.

It was not to be. The Spaniards put up a 15-3 finish to avoid an early exit before going on to lift the title. GB went home but with some face saved.

2. Phil Jackson’s Supremacy. Sure, the legends of MJ, Scottie, Kobe and Shaq will live on in history. But Phil’s NBA title number 10 affirmed his place in the pantheon, if any additional evidence were required. The late Red Auerbach, ceding his throne atop the rankings, would have hated that the Lakers won another crown but you can’t begrudge Jackson his dues.

3. And likewise Kobe… All the talk about who is better: Kobe Bryant or LeBron James, has been settled. For everyone who thought the young pretender had assumed the crown (myself included), the Lakers guard provided the answers with a string of stellar showings and his fourth championship ring. LBJ, at 25, still has it all to do.

4. Capital Calamities. We were promised that London Capital wouldn’t remain the laughing stock of the BBL after last season. They were wrong. London lost 110-38 to Leicester in December, equalling a league-record of infamy. There have been claims of bills unpaid. Their only consolation is that Essex are bottom on loss difference headed into 2010. As one BBL director said recently: “I think the time is coming where no matter how much we want a team in London, it’s not doing us any good to have them in the league.”

5. Worcester-isms. It says a lot about basketball’s decline in the UK that the claims of racism made against former Wolves coach Chuck Evans received scant attention in the mainstream media. Or perhaps, it says something about our culture that while white-on-black racism is (thankfully) spotlit and decried, the inverse provoked little comment. Throw striking players, sackings and the welcome return of Paul James to the BBL into the mix, and what a bizarre tale it all was.

6. AI or not AI? Is Allen Iverson done or about to do something improbable? His meek exit from Memphis hinted at the mortality of a once-omnipotent star who could not accept his slide into the realms of lowly back-up. As anticipated, , he made a swift, unlikely, return in the colours of the Philadelphia 76ers. In the last chance saloon, this will either be AI’s time to cement his legacy or the ignominious final chapter in his riveting journey.

7. The enigma that was Andre Smith. Two weeks after arriving in the BBL, Everton’s expensive capture admitted the league “wasn’t as good as I thought it would be.” It was one thing to accomplish the astonishing feat of regularly putting up 30 points and 20 rebounds while, at the same time, appearing utterly disinterested. It was quite another when he was alleged to have told an opposing player that he hoped the Tigers would lose the game so he could go home early for the summer. One of the best performers in BBL history, it spoke volumes when the ballot of coaches declined to vote him as MVP.

8. The Ups and Downs of the NBA Brit-Pack. Luol Deng will surely be glad to see the back of 2009, having been sidelined for six months with a fractured tibia and watching the mixed messages surrounding his return to the Bulls damage his stock – and his reputation. With coach Vinnie Del Negro on the verge of being sacked, and Deng no longer considered an potential All Star, where does Lu go from here?

Credit, at least, to Pops Mensah-Bonsu for sticking to his pursuit of his personal NBA dream. Cut by San Antonio, dropped by Toronto, jettisoned in Houston, the popular Londoner is back in Raptor-land, hoping to stick through the end of the season. Coming back to Europe may have been his best bet. But who would argue with his persistence?

9. Joel stays in Spain. In an unrelated move, Great Britain forward Joel Freeland turned down a three-year rookie deal with the Portland Trailblazers in the summer, in favour of a (slightly) more lucrative move from Gran Canaria to ACB rivals Unicaja Malaga. "I would prefer to go (to the NBA) when I feel I am ready,” he said. “I don't want to sit on the bench for a couple of years.”

Ironically, with Portland’s injury problems, playing time wouldn’t have been an issue. Those of us who have followed the progression of Aldershot’s finest would argue he is ready as he’ll ever be – right now.

10. Two steps forward, two steps back. For basketball in the UK, this was a year of minimal progress. Great Britain’s men and women did not produce the results needed to advance their cause sufficiently to get FIBA to end their damaging Olympic dithering. The BBL went an entire year without any TV coverage and the trend toward smaller venues continues.

The NBA sold out the 02 Arena but, for all the noise it made, it otherwise flirted with obscurity on these shores at a time when the NFL is solidifying its own position. And for all the extra cash arriving in the lead-in to 2012, there are still too many familiar tales of volunteers not getting the support they need at a grassroots level.

There is a coherent strategy on paper for British hoops but no real evidence of delivery or results. Must do better in 2010.

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Everton, Worcester, Plymouth do last-minute Christmas shopping

Everton Tigers have, as Britball forecast last week, completed the capture of former BBL MVP Trey Moore amid a flurry of pre-Christmas signings.

The American veteran guard, who spent the 2008/09 season helping Newcastle top the BBL League and Playoffs, held talks with a number of clubs after failing to land an early season offer but settled on joining the Merseyside outfit - adding the playmaking and leadership the Tigers have lacked since the retirement of Richard Midgley.

Moore, a Mississippi State graduate, first came to Britain in 2003 when he joined Birmingham from his native Houston. Since then the 33-year-old has spent a season in China and in Strasbourg before returning to the BBL with Chester, then Newcastle.

Tigers head coach Tony Garbelotto said: “Trey has made a huge impact on the BBL in recent years and he is a player that we have all been watching.

“His score sheet proves his strengths – averaging in excess of 20 points per game throughout his two seasons with Cheshire Jets and helping both the Jets and the Eagles to collect silverware.

“He has played at the highest level in this league so will be sure to bring his experience and versatility to the team. 2010 promises to be an exciting culmination to the season.”

Elsewhere, Worcester Wolves have signed Lithuanian guard Kastytis Normantas, 6'9" American wingman Devin Smith and recently released Worthing Thunder power forward Petroslav Zafirov, while Plymouth Raiders have extended Anthony Rowe's deal until the end of the season.

“I’m delighted that he’s committed himself to the team for the remainder of the year,” said Plymouth coach Gary Stronach. “Anthony is a young player with a great future ahead of him. His leaving the team in France came at just the right time for us both – we needed someone to replace James Noel until he was fit, and Anthony needed to get back on the court again. The past 2 games have seen Anthony prove what a big part of this team he has become, so we’re all delighted that he has decided to stay.”
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Zabas joins Worthing. Moore to Tigers?

Worthing Thunder have confirmed the signing of Evaldas Zabas, two weeks after the Lithuanian was one of five players sacked by Worcester.

Zabas, who also held talks with Everton Tigers, is likely to make his debut against Leicester on December 19.

Long-time Thunder absentee Janis Ivanovskis is set to resume practice this week but will likely make his season debut in the New Year.

Everton, seeking a replacement guard, could now make a move for former BBL MVP Trey Moore. The American is understood to have been offered to a number of teams but the Tigers are the most likely to hand him a deal.

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Rush to leave Everton

Under-performing Everton Tigers have ditched guard Steven Rush after exercising an opt-out clause in the American’s contract.

Rush, who arrived late due to visa issues, joined from German Pro-B side Franken Hexer in the summer.

However the Tigers lack of size has led to an indifferent start to the campaign – with Tigers head coach Tony Garbelotto admitting Rush "wasn't a good fit" in his under-sized backcourt

He added: "Steven was an excellent player and we are sad to see him go. Although our results have been disappointing there have been some very positive results in the past few weeks.

“Taking this into account I think we had to take a longer term view to our season and we are now talking to a couple of players who will bring something to the squad going forward. “

Everton hope to have GB forward Flo Larkai back in action for next week's clash with Milton Keynes.

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Best foot forward as Everton fly the FC nest

The future of Everton Tigers has been secured after a deal was struck that will see Everton FC provide the BBL outfit with continued backing, despite a loosening of the links between the two clubs.

The move is the culmination of five months of talks that began when the Premier League giants initially signalled their intent to withdraw their subsidy completely, leaving the Tigers in danger of folding after just two seasons in the league. Having previously been integrated into the Goodison set-up through its community programme, the basketball arm will now be formally spun-off with chairman Martyn Best, and club stalwart Henry Mooney, taking control.

Critically for the Tigers, Everton FC will still maintain some financial support while continuing informal ties. The funding is around one-quarter of what was provided in the heady days of the past but Best, who runs a PR company in the north-west of England, insists it is an arrangement that will benefit both parties.

“The club’s now stable,” he confirmed. “We had two good first years with Everton Football Club supporting us totally. They wanted to reassess where our club lay. Is it part of the charity? Is it part of the football (club)? And they decided it’s best that it is an independent entity, winning trophies on the court and developing really good community links off it.

“Everton are fully behind us as our official partner. That’s just been confirmed this week, which is great. Between the management team: myself, Henry Mooney, Tony (Garbelotto) a great coach who has committed to the club, and a good general manager behind us, we feel we’ll be a big part of the BBL going forward.”

The trick is trying to build a brand in a city that is either red or blue, with talk of little else around the water cooler. Accruing sponsors is one part of the challenge. Increasing crowds is another. While Everton has flourished in its handful of appearances at the 7,000-capacity Echo Arena, attendances are still – by necessity – small at the team’s normal Greenbank home. And that, Best admits, may mean moving elsewhere in the longer term.

“The key to that is getting the fan base behind us,” he acknowledges. “The guys at the Echo Arena are fully behind us as a basketball team. It’s the same people who ran the NIA when Birmingham Bullets played there so they understand the make-up of the sport. They’re urging us to play 2-3 more games this season but the dates haven’t worked out to do something before Christmas. So we’re probably looking at one in January and one in April to sign the season off. 

“The other thing we’re looking at is possibly playing a few games around Liverpool, away from Greenbank. We might play one in Knowsley, where we have our admin and training court at Kirkby Sports College. And possibly one at Sefton where there is a strong hold on grassroots basketball. Greenback is our base for the foreseeable future but I want to take basketball around the city.”

Winning more silverware can only help. It has not been a smooth start to the campaign for the Tigers after their titanic battle for supremacy with Newcastle last term. On their economised budget, there are no Andre Smiths to carry the load. However, that doesn’t mean that mid-table consolidation is now the ambition. The ambitious Best, appropriately, still wants the best of all worlds.

“But,” he concedes, “it’s going to come down to a range of activities on and off the court: community engagement, fan engagement. On court, in Tony, we’ve got one of the best and most experienced coaches in the league. We are assembling a younger team this season which, when they do click, they are worth watching.

“We are building up a momentum in Liverpool. The city’s not used to having a professional team but we’re creating something there. I agreed to become involved long-term and we’ve made that same long-term commitment to the BBL.”

Garbelotto calls for Tigers to start showing claws

Everton Tigers coach Tony Garbelotto has insisted his players must show more desire if they want to see off Sheffield Sharks on Friday night and keep alive their ambition to retain the BBL title.

The winners at the EIS will take on Leicester in a two-legged semi-final with the hosts the clear favourites to end the reign of the Mersey outfit.

Garbelotto, who could welcome back Flo Larkai, believes Sheffield's race to the head of the league is no fluke but is still refusing to write off his team's hopes.

“They are the BBL form team at present, but as we have seen if there is one thing you can count on this season it is that nothing is going to for," he said.

“I feel we match up well with them, especially if Flo Larkai comes back from injury. This will be a highly exciting game to watch, I am pretty sure about that'."

He added: “They have one of the best players in the league in Mike Cook, a solid point guard in Ryan Patton and three excellent players in Tafari Toney, Perry Lawson and Atiba Lyons.

“They can score in bunches and have become a very solid defensive team. Atiba Lyons has done a great job with this team and their confidence is sky high.”

Everton go into the tie after a mixed set of results from last weekend as a defeat of London Capital was followed by a damaging  loss against the Glasgow Rocks, which left their coach furious.

Garbelotto added: “I was not happy with the whole weekend. We looked out of sorts in both games.

The Capital game was a good win against an improved side, and I was able to give both Dani Gonzalez and Darrell Bethune major minutes, which they have worked hard to get and deserved.

“Sunday was again one of those games that you would like to forget. We were up ten points at half time and we ended up losing by fifteen. They just wanted to win more than us and that is something that I cannot accept.”

Herriman heads to Wales

Delme Herriman, who was released by Everton Tigers in the summer, has returned to basketball after signing for Welsh side Glyndwr Nets, who play in EBL Division Two.

The former international, now 36, was part of the England team that claimed a bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and spent four years of his early career playing for Wright State University in Ohio.

Garbo bids to plug Everton leaks

Everton head coach Tony Garbelotto has ordered his side to toughen up after back-to-back losses to Cheshire and Newcastle compounded the Tigers disappointing start.

The Merseyside outfit, who return to Greenbank Sports Academy to host Worcester on Friday, are counting on American point guard Steve Rush to finally receive his work permit and make his often-delayed debut.

However Garbelotto, who has criticised the BBL’s referees for corralling his players, insists an improved defensive showing is the top priority against the struggling Wolves.

“For me, these next two games are must-wins,” he said. “We cannot afford to drop any more games if we want to be considered a top team. We can score 90 points on almost any game. Our challenge is simple, to stop other teams from scoring.

“After a really solid week of preparation where we will really start getting into our defensive stuff I feel we will be ready. We are like a sieve at the moment - just leaking baskets.”

Friday sees the return of former Tiger Chuck Evans to Greenbank, in his new role in charge at Worcester.

“They are pretty deep in the back court and have a few guys that can really shoot the ball, so it will be important for us to play with intensity right from the start,” Garbelotto added.

Sub-strength Everton worry Garbo

Everton Tigers head coach Tony Garbelotto admits his side will have to improve in order to kick start their BBL campaign ahead of a double header of games this weekend.

On Saturday local bragging rights are on offer as they lock horns with an improving Cheshire Jets side but the following day they face a sterner test of their early title credentials with a trip to presumed challengers Newcastle.

The Tigers have so far endured a mixed start to the new season with opening day defeat at the hands of Leicester.  They bounced back last weekend with a dramatic late win against the Guildford Heat at the Echo Arena.

But Garbelotto, who is still awaiting the arrival of point guard Steven Rush,  said: “I did not feel we played well. Guildford played really hard, defended the post really well and to be honest could easily have won the game.

“Our only bright spots were the play of James Jones and the inside play of Flo Larkai. For sure, if we play like we did at the Arena, we will not win many games.”

Saturday sees the Tigers make the short journey to Chester’s Northgate Arena where they will take on a side that they are yet to lose against.

The Jets will be without long term injury absentee and ex-Tiger Calvin Davis but Garbelotto knows that given the opportunity they possess enough quality to hurt his team from anywhere on the court:

“They have been a bit of a surprise package so far this season and have had some decent results. We know we’ve got a decent record against them but they will be trying even harder to put that right so we know we’ll have to ready for them from the tip-off.”

Less than 24 hours later the Tigers are on the road again to Tyneside to face Garbelotto’s former club – a game which the Everton coach believes will be a stern examination.

“It is too early to tell how we will shape up this year. We are hoping to get our full team out on the floor this weekend and then we will be able to start to see exactly where we are

“This game has come a little too early for us, but that said, we have to know where we are against the best teams and there is no doubt that Newcastle are the best.

“Their whole roster can be game winners and they have the most settled and balanced team in the league.”

Larkai joins Everton

Great Britain small forward Dzaflo Larkai is set to join Everton Tigers on a one-year contract, BBL sources have confirmed.

The Londoner, who failed to make the GB squad for this summer's Eurobasket finals, spent last season at Spanish LEB Oro club, Hospitalet.

Bar raised as new campaign tips off

So after four months of eager anticipation (OK, perhaps mild longing), the new BBL season starts tonight with defending champions Newcastle getting us all under way against Cheshire at the Metro Arena.

Is anyone ready to break the Eagles' monopoly at the top of the tree? Talking to a lot of coaches and players this week, the answer - candidly - is no. However, looking at the rosters, and some pre-season insights, the message heading into this campaign is that there are more teams out there who could - in theory - beat anyone on any given night.

Discounting the ever-shambolic London Capital, and youthful newcomers Essex Pirates, and the 11 other teams appear to have come a little closer together than before.

Newcastle, despite the advantage they possess in continuity, are one down from last term. Everton have been forced into a late rush, and will field an almost wholly new line-up. Guildford and Plymouth are similarly less deep with Heat player-coach Chad McKnight having to learn his new trade on the job. And while the Glasgow Rocks (if they acquire a centre) and the Sheffield Sharks look improved, are either really good enough to challenge for the title?

That leaves Leicester, last season's upstarts, with the potential for leaping into the mix again despite the huge loss of Phil Missere. An unknown quantity again.

Worcester and Worthing, according to at least two rival coaches, will improve sheerly because of the change on the bench. Both should, our informal and unscientific survey says, challenge for a play-off spot.

Which leaves Milton Keynes and Cheshire. Both have opted largely for continuity with 1-2 new faces. At some point though, regeneration is required. I'm not sure either have done enough to mould themselves into a top-eight squad even if Lions coach Vince Macaulay has been talking up their chances.

So that takes us back to Newcastle. It's an easy choice after all. Proven quality, track record, off-court savvy. They may lose 10 games this year but there are multiple reasons why the Eagles remain our favourites. And that's why my money goes on them.

PREDICTED TABLE (check back in April to see how wrong it was)

1. Newcastle
2. Everton
3. Glasgow
4. Leicester
5. Sheffield
6. Plymouth
7. Worcester
8. Milton Keynes
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9. Guildford
10. Worthing
11. Cheshire
12. London
13. Essex

Tigers claw back from brink

It has not been the smoothest of summers for Everton Tigers despite their emergence as one the BBL's super-clubs last term.

There was the departure of chairman, and behind-the-scenes-fixer, Gary Townsend - poached away from Goodison - where he headed community programmes - to be part of the revival at Notts County along side Sven Goran Eriksson.

In tandem, doubts arose over the continued backing and benevolence of Everton FC, support that will - for now - continue.

A new chair, Liverpool-based PR executive, Martyn Best has been installed with a new board coming together in his wake. The sole outstanding manoeuvre has been to put a team together on the court, a task which coach Tony Garbelotto admits has been a challenge as the new campaign dawns.

"Gary was the driving force behind everything so when he was headhunted to go elsewhere, it did cause some problems internally because he is so integral to what we do," concedes the Great Britain assistant. "There were some scary moments. But it's now definitely business as usual."

With Everton slated to begin their challenge on October 3 with a trip to Leicester, you sense Garbelotto is relieved for the additional time to bring his new-look side together - with a few last minute deals in the pipeline. Talk of the Tigers being a big-budget team can probably be dropped. However, as elsewhere this summer, bargains are to be had for those who have put in the time to scout and survey.

Steven Rush, a point guard who learnt his trade at UNC A&T State, will be handed the reigns left vacant by the retirement of Richard Midgley. The 5'11" playmaker spent last term in the Bundesliga but arrives on Merseyside on the recommendation of GB chief Chris Finch.

"I saw him a couple of times and I knew I wanted more scoring at that position," Garbelotto admitted. "He definitely fitted the bill."

More intriguingly, Crewe-born forward Andy Thomson has returned to his roots after two years in the Spanish lower leagues. A coup, states the ex-London and Newcastle coach, who has tabbed the 2.05m former Manchester junior for his starting line-up.

"He is going to be a good player. He's multi-skilled, he has a high basketball IQ and he shoots well. I don't want to put too much pressure on him but he may even be an outside bet for a GB place."