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Post by mansfieldmike on Apr 1, 2023 18:34:42 GMT
Last night Riders finally clicked back into the form we know they can play, Hopefully this will now continue for the last few games and the run into the playoffs. So glad to see Love finally have a very good game. Let’s now see if we can chalk up 42 victories over Plymouth tomorrow. Brilliant win which should make us favorites for 2nd place in the Championship table, particularly because it give us the head to head against Flyers. Carrington Love ran the game, and showed constant aggression and determination to score or assist a score. Long may it continue into the playoffs. |
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Post by spacejammer on Apr 1, 2023 19:46:24 GMT
As I've said numerous times spacejammer eagles have steadily been caught up and overtaken by other teams. No longer a team to fear. Which they certainly were when I started watching BBL Charles Smith. I used to fear him badly. 1. The league has got better, with more teams having both talent and depth. 2. Eagles’ recruitment hasn’t been as good as it was historically (or perhaps others have just caught up with Newcastle and Leicester). 3. Replacing legends with both the skill and will to win, and the nous and experience of doing so, was always going to be difficult (Charles, Fab, Scott Martin, Fletch etc). 4. Playing with three injured against London (Hamlet, French & Mockford) & Hamlet/ Mockford out last night would be a challenge for any team other than London who are so stacked it doesn’t affect them in the same way. 5. Remember that since Donovan Johnson left Newcastle have been playing with one fewer imports than most opponents (their own fault, admittedly). All in all, a dreadful year for Newcastle. But fingers crossed still for squeaking into the play-offs. Must beat Surrey tomorrow (no confidence of that even!) but, if they do, then I can see the last game of the season against Plymouth being the decider - again. One final thing. In a horrible year, at age 38 Darius has regularly been Eagles’ most influential player. Last night he was outstanding. His professionalism and competiveness remain very impressive. Would be my first signing for next year if he wants to go on. To be honest at the end of last night's game I thought Darius looked furious with the way the game went as if he was starting to become fed up with the way we have declined the past 2 seasons. I hope he stays next year so he can say he has done 20 years in the BBL and stayed a one team man. Although if he was to retire I wouldn't blame him either. I also do agree over the years other teams have developed and gotten stronger which has also made the league more challenging then what it used to be. And whilst some players on the team have been okay, I think the only one who has played his socks off and been dangerous every game for us is Hamlet who I reckon will most likely go on to a stronger league next season. I know IRF compared him to losing Crandell, but the difference is I look at Leicesters team and alot of your guys are still dangerous and have stepped up when you look at Mackenzie. And atleast your team play coordinated and in rhythm alot better then us. Rob has also done weto keep you guys up in the top 3 and probably still the best coach in the BBL. For us yes I can give Stetuel the benefit of a doubt this season since its his first season in the BBL. And again in a strange way I think this team is way more exciting to watch then last season. But at times last night we looked uncoordinated and like we didn't know what play to run. And whilst I had hope we could win tommorow it seems like no matter what happens we cannot seem to get a win. Whilst I would be optimistic and think the Eagles have a good chance tommorow. I'm starting to believe the only way we will beat Surrey is if their players had a rough night sleep and turned up to play the game wearing slippers, blindfolds and somehow lost the ability to jump with the ball. |
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Post by irf on Apr 1, 2023 20:31:32 GMT
As I've said numerous times spacejammer eagles have steadily been caught up and overtaken by other teams. No longer a team to fear. Which they certainly were when I started watching BBL Charles Smith. I used to fear him badly. 1. The league has got better, with more teams having both talent and depth. 2. Eagles’ recruitment hasn’t been as good as it was historically (or perhaps others have just caught up with Newcastle and Leicester). 3. Replacing legends with both the skill and will to win, and the nous and experience of doing so, was always going to be difficult (Charles, Fab, Scott Martin, Fletch etc). 4. Playing with three injured against London (Hamlet, French & Mockford) & Hamlet/ Mockford out last night would be a challenge for any team other than London who are so stacked it doesn’t affect them in the same way. 5. Remember that since Donovan Johnson left Newcastle have been playing with one fewer imports than most opponents (their own fault, admittedly). All in all, a dreadful year for Newcastle. But fingers crossed still for squeaking into the play-offs. Must beat Surrey tomorrow (no confidence of that even!) but, if they do, then I can see the last game of the season against Plymouth being the decider - again. One final thing. In a horrible year, at age 38 Darius has regularly been Eagles’ most influential player. Last night he was outstanding. His professionalism and competiveness remain very impressive. Would be my first signing for next year if he wants to go on. Fair play to Defoe. He's still earning his wage for sure. |
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Post by irf on Apr 1, 2023 20:37:37 GMT
Interesting chat on the old whatsbev where Steutel is being questioned for the amount of games Eagles lose by less than 5 points
The suggestion being generally if you lose games by less than 5 points the coach can be blamed
Whereas if you lose by more than 5 points it's generally the players fault
And eagles have lost a hell of a lot of games by less than 5 points this season
What do you guys think?
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Post by erj14 on Apr 1, 2023 22:08:18 GMT
Interesting chat on the old whatsbev where Steutel is being questioned for the amount of games Eagles lose by less than 5 points The suggestion being generally if you lose games by less than 5 points the coach can be blamed Whereas if you lose by more than 5 points it's generally the players fault And eagles have lost a hell of a lot of games by less than 5 points this season What do you guys think? First year coach learning the ropes making mistakes is hardly shocking really. Although not my choice when he was hired, I've been quietly impressed at how he's at least got that team playing competitive basketball. This summer is big for him, the club has to improve on their recruitment. |
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Post by spacejammer on Apr 2, 2023 11:05:12 GMT
To be honest I looked on the Eagles insta page and noticed we haven't announced an MVP for Fridays game.
Makes me wonder if we were so bad they felt no one really deserved it?
I know someone mentioned fitness of players, I understand Cohn was tired towards the end of the game and yes ideally having a player run for 40 minutes without checking out for a breather isn't ideal.
But at the same time these are suppose to be proffessional athletes.
Given how it used to be if you said that to legends like Charles Smith he would probably laugh if you said that given how he used to play games for 40 minutes even towards the end of his career and be very effective at times too.
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Post by erj14 on Apr 2, 2023 16:56:09 GMT
To be honest I looked on the Eagles insta page and noticed we haven't announced an MVP for Fridays game. Makes me wonder if we were so bad they felt no one really deserved it? I know someone mentioned fitness of players, I understand Cohn was tired towards the end of the game and yes ideally having a player run for 40 minutes without checking out for a breather isn't ideal. But at the same time these are suppose to be proffessional athletes. Given how it used to be if you said that to legends like Charles Smith he would probably laugh if you said that given how he used to play games for 40 minutes even towards the end of his career and be very effective at times too. I think that's harsh. For me, missing Hanlet is huge for us. With him in the game on Friday, I'm pretty convinced we win. The issue is with him out, we have to cope with a lot of Ubiaro minutes and he just doesn't offer enough offensively. We miss that extra ball handler and means we end up having to rely on players out of their comfort zone handling the ball. You could tell it was a matter legs on Friday night that let us down, it wasn't like the other defeats where admittedly they've fucked up. |
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Post by voise on Apr 2, 2023 19:15:24 GMT
The suggestion being generally if you lose games by less than 5 points the coach can be blamed Whereas if you lose by more than 5 points it's generally the players fault Not sure whether there is much to this assertion a) as bad coaching also contributes to blow outs and b) there's no consideration of tight wins that could be attributed to a coach's influence. However, it piqued my interest in the battle for the final playoff spots. Games lost by 5 points or less: Scorchers 8 Eagles 10 Patriots 2 Sharks 5 |
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