Great Britain duo land in BBL

Two of Great Britain internationals have signed to play in the British Basketball League until the end of the season.

Point guard Flinder Boyd, who has been battling a knee injury, has completed his long-discussed move to Newcastle Eagles.

While twice-capped centre Randall Hanke joins the Glasgow Rocks to make his rookie debut.

Boyd, a Dartmouth graduate, comes to the reigning league champions, as the latest stop in a pro career that began in 2002 at French Pro A club Le Havre. He has since played in French Pro B with Mulhouse and Nantes, before a two year spell with Rosalia in the Spanish LEB. Boyd's last club attachment was with Leicester Riders, before joining the Great Britain national team last summer.

Eagles coach Fab Flournoy believes that he already has a basis of a team to retain the BBL Championship title, but feels Boyd, who will arrive on Tyneside next week, will give the team an extra dimension once he regains full fitness.

"Flinder is a player I have been keen to sign for a little while now. We have talked a lot recently and have monitored Flinders' rehabilitation. He is a much respected player and I think the type of character that is going to fit very easily into our system. He is also the type of guy that makes players around him better, which will be a real shot in the arm for us at this point in the season, both on and off the court."

New York-born Hanke has British citizenship granting him 5 caps with team GB and at 25, has finally completed a protracted move to Glasgow.

"Randall is the body we've been searching for, for what seems like forever now," said Rocks coach Sterling Davis. "He's a hard worker on both ends of the floor with a soft touch around the basket. He will definitely give us some added depth on our frontline."

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Boyd working on ball skills

GB guard Flinder Boyd is training hard on his ball-handling skills, ahead of his expected arrival at Newcastle Eagles next month.

GB stars still job hunting

With the domestic campaign starting tonight, it's still wait-and-see time for a number of Great Britain's internationals who are hunting for employment.

Captain Drew Sullivan, who played last season in Russia, remains without a club, as does starting point guard Flinder Boyd.

Most unlucky of all is reserve guard Steve Leven, who had agreed a two-year deal in the Spanish LEB, only for it to fall through when the club hit financial trouble.

The economy, it seems, is leaving no-one untouched.

GB Boyd by Flinder boost

Great Britain guard Flinder Boyd has provided coach Chris Finch with a major boost after declaring himself fit and ready for the start of the Eurobasket finals in Poland next week.
The Leicester Riders playmaker has missed a handful of GB’s warm-up games due to an ankle injury, disrupting Finch’s preparations for the tournament.
However Boyd made his return to practice when the side returned to London – along with fellow casualties Joel Freeland and Kieron Achara.
And with just five days to go until GB’s opener against Slovenia in Warsaw, he admits it’s time for the team’s ‘little guys’ to start punching above their weight.
“These teams are tough,” said Boyd. “I think the guards have to be able to dictate the pace of the game against these sides. We can't win a shoot-out, so we'll have to be able to neutralise their firepower.”