jt
Sixth Man
Posts: 219
|
Post by jt on May 3, 2023 9:13:27 GMT
Bristol Flyers have confirmed they'll be competing in the ENBL next year in Europe, a North European Basketball League.
Caledonia Gladiators are also exploring the feasibility of entering the Champions League/ Europe Cup next year (per Mark Woods).
With 3 potential teams in Europe next year the standard of the BBL should improve even more
|
|
|
|
Post by eagles18000 on May 3, 2023 9:57:33 GMT
interesting theory
When Leicester entered Europe their roster quality did not rise discernibly. The cost of entering and travelling in Europe has to be met somehow (its a loss leader) so that normally comes from the playing budget. (There's a reason Leicester didnt drop into Europe cup).
There is the possibility of attracting better players to play in European competition for less money but generally and understandably with players money talks.
|
|
|
|
Post by D44 on May 3, 2023 10:52:09 GMT
Is ENBL that Bristol are playing in like a fifth tier competition under Euroleague/Eurocup/BCL/FEC?
They mustn't have any venue requirements if there allowing Bristol to play from the baby blue blockwork leisure centre of dreams.
I get pretty confused about the whole thing tbh with the Euroleague/FIBA split.
|
|
jt
Sixth Man
Posts: 219
|
Post by jt on May 3, 2023 10:57:55 GMT
Is ENBL that Bristol are playing in like a fifth tier competition under Euroleague/Eurocup/BCL/FEC? They mustn't have any venue requirements if there allowing Bristol to play from the baby blue blockwork leisure centre of dreams. I get pretty confused about the whole thing tbh with the Euroleague/FIBA split. It's similar to the ABA for Eastern Europe, or the BNXT for Belgium/Netherlands. Not the highest standard but still fairly competitive |
|
|
|
Post by LTfan on May 3, 2023 11:41:14 GMT
Is ENBL that Bristol are playing in like a fifth tier competition under Euroleague/Eurocup/BCL/FEC? They mustn't have any venue requirements if there allowing Bristol to play from the baby blue blockwork leisure centre of dreams. I get pretty confused about the whole thing tbh with the Euroleague/FIBA split. It's similar to the ABA for Eastern Europe, or the BNXT for Belgium/Netherlands. Not the highest standard but still fairly competitive It's regular season is also about 7 or 8 games, so although the standard isn't that of Euroleague/Euro Cup or FIBA Champions League/Europe Cup it does have it's advantages if you're on a bit of a budget. Personally I see it as an gateway league for those thinking of entering european competition. |
|
|
|
Post by lochrocks on May 3, 2023 12:26:38 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by D44 on May 3, 2023 13:36:29 GMT
Who wouldn't want a mid week trip to glamorous Krasnoyarsk in Siberia? |
|
jt
Sixth Man
Posts: 219
|
Post by jt on May 3, 2023 14:06:52 GMT
Who wouldn't want a mid week trip to glamorous Krasnoyarsk in Siberia? Beats playing the same 9 teams forever! |
|
|
|
Post by dexter on May 3, 2023 14:53:27 GMT
Who wouldn't want a mid week trip to glamorous Krasnoyarsk in Siberia? I wouldn’t mind but Russia is out. ENBL is now a central and Northern European league. |
|
|
|
Post by spacejammer on May 3, 2023 18:47:02 GMT
Is ENBL that Bristol are playing in like a fifth tier competition under Euroleague/Eurocup/BCL/FEC? They mustn't have any venue requirements if there allowing Bristol to play from the baby blue blockwork leisure centre of dreams. I get pretty confused about the whole thing tbh with the Euroleague/FIBA split. To be honest if their getting to play against European opposition more regularly then I don't think it really matters at this stage. If the above is true then its as Vince Maculay said a while back that soon 3 or 4 BBL teams could eventually be playing in Europe. Which gives 777 some credit if this works out as its what us fans want to see more. It's a pity the Eagles ain't joining the party just now but I understand that we still need to get a stronger calibre team in place before we start going after Europe. |
|
|
|
Post by ScottishBasketballFan on May 3, 2023 20:21:49 GMT
I think the Romans, sorry, Gladiators need to drastically improve their roster if they want to be competitive.
|
|
|
|
Post by bigdunk on May 4, 2023 19:37:48 GMT
I believe the Rocks will raise more than a few eyebrows when they unveil next seasons roster. Likelihood a step change is coming
|
|
|
|
Post by Stephen Abootman on May 5, 2023 17:24:13 GMT
So... A club that's still looking for it's first piece of silverware at BBL level and plays in a 700 capacity college gym believe it's financially viable for them to take on something like this. Meanwhile a club that's been a borderline dominant force in the BBL for roughly as long as Flyers have been in the league, and has been playing in a 2,500 capacity arena for most of that time still only has one pretty feeble attempt at Europe Cup to it's name. Sigh.
I'd honestly never heard of the ENBL and it doesn't strike me as a competition that's gonna have next level players queueing up to sign with Bristol. Given that they've gone pretty well this season I wouldn't be surprised to see quite a few returnees. I'm also not entirely sure this qualifies as 'competing in Europe'. In a literal sense it obviously is but it's not really what I think of 'competing in Europe' as meaning. That being said, their decision to give this a go does hint at a potentially exciting future for the club whenever this new venue materialises.
With Lions following a different European path, I'd have thought Riders would be first in line for a BCL qualifying invite. So this Gladiators rumour makes me think it's pretty unlikely that Europe is in our plans for next season. Are we ever going to properly take the next step forward as a club or have we plateaued? Are we just going to sit back now and watch various clubs potentially overtake us?
|
|
|
|
Post by D44 on May 5, 2023 20:18:43 GMT
Are we ever going to properly take the next step forward as a club or have we plateaued? Are we just going to sit back now and watch various clubs potentially overtake us? As an Eagles fan yes that is exactly what happens. And if you think it's bad now wait until more long term players leave/retire, Rob leaves and you loose a major sponsor. |
|
|
|
Post by dexter on May 5, 2023 22:06:26 GMT
Bristol Flyers are part of Bristol Sport and are owned by billionaire Steven Landsdowne. He doesn’t mind throwing money at his sports teams. So far he has spent £200m on Bristol City FC. I’m guessing he has increased Flyers’s budget so they can compete in ENBL. They probably can’t play in FIBA Europe Cup because they don’t have a minimum standard arena. Bristol Sport is a money pit. I’m sure the budget for Bristol Flyers is tiny compared to the football and rugby teams. I’m hoping Flyers are playing in ENBL and building their new arena in readiness to play in FIBA Europe Champions League qualifiers the following season.
|
|
|
|
Post by spacejammer on May 5, 2023 23:47:22 GMT
Are we ever going to properly take the next step forward as a club or have we plateaued? Are we just going to sit back now and watch various clubs potentially overtake us? As an Eagles fan yes that is exactly what happens. And if you think it's bad now wait until more long term players leave/retire, Rob leaves and you loose a major sponsor. Wow I got to admit this response really made me chuckle and a bit of an eye opener. And I think as an Eagles fan all the times we got stick and said enjoy it whilst it lasts. This was exactly what we warned Riders about last season. Moments in the sun don't always last forever and eventually the tables can turn. But this season Leicester have finished 2nd in the league losing out to a high calibre London Lions team. You honestly think because you were unable to repeat the triple success last season that suddenly the Riders have gone backwards already? Although I can't believe I'm defending Riders here. In my opinion for this Leicester team to finish 2nd after losing their MVP to another league just before the start. I think considering that they have done well and in the absence of Geno and Walker other players like Kimbel have stepped up and you recruited a new big man in Menzies. As well as this in the Cup final I felt the Riders competed well with the Lions and were unfortunate to run out of steam. And also right now for Leicester the season isn't over and it's still early days. Maybe the Riders might still be looking at Europe but just haven't gotten round to deciding if they are going to do that as they have had the playoffs to concentrate on. And even if they don't do Europe next season then I'm sure the reason maybe due to financing or perhaps Rob and the organisation have other areas they want to focus on and prepare a different shape team for it. Plus right now the league in the BBL is probably tougher then it has ever been as the current teams have really up'd there games, recruitment and planning. To say Riders have gone backwards makes it seem like Leicester finished 7th in league table for the 3rd straight season were barely filling out there arena and recruited 24 players in an out over the course of the season. |
|
|
|
Post by Stephen Abootman on May 6, 2023 19:15:43 GMT
As an Eagles fan yes that is exactly what happens. And if you think it's bad now wait until more long term players leave/retire, Rob leaves and you loose a major sponsor. Losing long term players really doesn't worry me in the slightest. Geno's departure and the way it happened did set us back this season but he was exceptional. We've seen plenty of important, long serving players (Drew, Tyler, AT, Jamell, etc.) come and go at Riders over the years and it's never proven a major obstacle to success. Rob leaving would be significant. And I do think it's conceivable that if we aren't able to kick on as a club, he might decide in a few years that he's gone as far as he can with Riders and look for more exciting opportunities elsewhere. So long as Rob remains at the club I think we'll continue to do as well as anyone in terms of getting the best out of what resources we have. But if those resources don't improve and we aren't able to take a meaningful step forward, I do fear we may soon start sliding backwards. The days of us being able to basically stand still as a club and still hoover up trophies left, right and centre are clearly over. Seven years we've been at Morningside now. Won 12-13 trophies over that period. And for all that domestic success, one 0-6 effort in Europe Cup is all we've been able to muster. If that really is the best an organically grown British basketball club with a normal-ish budget can do then God help us. |
|
|
|
Post by milehigh on May 6, 2023 19:30:40 GMT
Even more important than Rob Paternostro is the role played by Kevin Routledge, as long as he remains interested and able to do his work in the background the club will continue to thrive. However finding someone with the vision, ability and integrity to fill his role when he steps down will be very difficult.
|
|
|
|
Post by spacejammer on May 6, 2023 20:04:28 GMT
As an Eagles fan yes that is exactly what happens. And if you think it's bad now wait until more long term players leave/retire, Rob leaves and you loose a major sponsor. Losing long term players really doesn't worry me in the slightest. Geno's departure and the way it happened did set us back this season but he was exceptional. We've seen plenty of important, long serving players (Drew, Tyler, AT, Jamell, etc.) come and go at Riders over the years and it's never proven a major obstacle to success. Rob leaving would be significant. And I do think it's conceivable that if we aren't able to kick on as a club, he might decide in a few years that he's gone as far as he can with Riders and look for more exciting opportunities elsewhere. So long as Rob remains at the club I think we'll continue to do as well as anyone in terms of getting the best out of what resources we have. But if those resources don't improve and we aren't able to take a meaningful step forward, I do fear we may soon start sliding backwards. The days of us being able to basically stand still as a club and still hoover up trophies left, right and centre are clearly over. Seven years we've been at Morningside now. Won 12-13 trophies over that period. And for all that domestic success, one 0-6 effort in Europe Cup is all we've been able to muster. If that really is the best an organically grown British basketball club with a normal-ish budget can do then God help us. To be honest your team will probably fall and have a difficult season eventually. And if you want the BBL to be exciting and competitive then I would say it needs to happen not just for Riders but for all teams including the Lions. Otherwise it does eventually become boring for all involved. If you look at the NBA for example a team that is scrapping bottom of the conference can suddenly become next seasons NBA champions. Likewise wise the team who won the previous season might end up struggling the next season. I mean look at the 2019 champions Toronto and 2021 champs Milwauke. Toronto just fired a coach who won there first ever tittle and Milwauke were knocked out in round 1 by Miami who were 8th seed. When the NBA finals were 4 years of the finals being Golden State vs Cleveland I got bored by the 4th time. So when the following year 2019 was Toronto vs Golden State and then LA Lakers vs Heat it was entertaining as a fan to see change. The point I'm trying to make is teams will have good seasons and bad seasons. However staying on top doesn't always last forever. And teams who end up falling from the top can always bounce back. The question of how long will it take for a team to bounce back though is another question. |
|
|
|
Post by cosbyrider on May 7, 2023 12:14:50 GMT
You are missing Stephen’s point.
It’s not about accepting poor seasons. Riders fans know the cyclical nature of sport after years of being also rans and downright dreadful. The success is coming to an end. I hope that happens in a truly organic nature with the rise of Caledonia and a couple others rather than Lions on a continuous dominance.
The point is that when the good times have been here, the club organisation hasn’t been ambitious enough to push into having a really good go at European basketball. This successful period won’t be here for ever, so it’s disappointing that Riders haven’t made more of it. Lesson were learned last time but recultance to actually correct them.
It was very disappointing last summer when Riders declared they wouldn’t go in the Europe Cup and then turned up to Skopje half arsed. Probably could have beat Voluntari with a real effort (but would have crashed out in the next round of the playoffs either way).
|
|
