Which players should be retained?

[massiveridersfan]

Hate the off season so I'd be interested to see who you'd like to see return for your team.
Definitely want Zach Jackson next season and Kimbal Mackenzie. There are others too but that'll do for a start.

[spacejammer]

For me I would like to retain most the Eagles squad that finished the season and build upon that squad.
Although the 2 I'd cut would be Ubario and Mockford.

Having said that Mockford did start to show some promise at the end of the season and has struggled with injury from what I hear.
So I would maybe give him the benefit of the doubt but would expect to see more of what he showed at the end of the season in order to justify being kept on for another season.

I would love to see us retain Hamlet especially and felt he should have been given our season MVP award as he was consistently good most games for us.
But I reckon he will be given some good offers to go elsewhere.

As for our coach Stetuel although I had hoped we would finish higher up the table.
I suppose coming 8th is atleast 1 place higher then last year and I like the drive and determination from Stetuel so would definately want him back as well.

Although if he ends up staying with the Team GB coaching set up and possibly taking the now vacant head coach position, I am concerned it will hinder his focus on the Eagles.
As after seeing what Bristol have planned I can completely understand why Andreas walked away from Team GB and if Caledonia are the same I wouldn't be surprised if Coach Murray didn't do the same.

But I'd be excited to see what Marc has up his sleeve for next season and I like to think he will have learnt alot from his rookie season in charge and this time we will have the correct team to start off with from the start of the season not mid season.

[naenia]

I always find this hard because I grow so attached to the players during the season and so want to see them all again … but 4 wins is 4 wins so …

Would love to see Padiet Wang, Shakem Johnson, Josh Steel, and Tayo though.

Edit: Thought Kyle Carey keeps showing improvement so would be nice for him to return too.

[voise]

Interesting times for the Sharks as we move to our own venue. Could it put some pressure on playing budget in the short-term? Coach Lyons has admitted "In terms of recruitment we’ve got to keep the lights on in the building".
While individually we had some talent and played a lot of teams close, I don't think the the squad had quite the right balance this year - undersized at almost every position, especially guards, not enough shooting and not enough athleticism. I think Dave F nailed it on SNB - we just didn't seem to have the hoopers who are able to step up when needed to carry us over the line at key parts of the season.
That's a very long way of saying, for the first time in many seasons, there is no one player I think definitely needs to be back. If we are looking to build for the future I'd like to keep Sako for the long-term but it will only work for him & us if he gets regular court time.
If I could pick up a player from another team I'd be looking at someone like Archibald from the Nix to build a team around.

[dexter]

May 14, 2023 21:11:47 GMT voise said:

Interesting times for the Sharks as we move to our own venue. Could it put some pressure on playing budget in the short-term? Coach Lyons has admitted "In terms of recruitment we’ve got to keep the lights on in the building".
While individually we had some talent and played a lot of teams close, I don't think the the squad had quite the right balance this year - undersized at almost every position, especially guards, not enough shooting and not enough athleticism. I think Dave F nailed it on SNB - we just didn't seem to have the hoopers who are able to step up when needed to carry us over the line at key parts of the season.
That's a very long way of saying, for the first time in many seasons, there is no one player I think definitely needs to be back. If we are looking to build for the future I'd like to keep Sako for the long-term but it will only work for him & us if he gets regular court time.
If I could pick up a player from another team I'd be looking at someone like Archibald from the Nix to build a team around.

I imagine all teams would want to retain their big men and bring in more if possible. It would be good to Sharks could retain Koch.

[voise]

Koch had an improved season, but for whatever reason he struggled to make an impact beyond the second quarter. If he could impact the game for 40 and grab a few more boards then he would be first on the team sheet. I'm happy to roll the die - he's had a good 4 year go in Sheffield.
If he were to get a UK passport that would be a completely different matter though.

[reallyoldfeenixfan2]

May 14, 2023 21:11:47 GMT voise said:

If I could pick up a player from another team I'd be looking at someone like Archibald from the Nix to build a team around.

Hey keep your hands off Amorie Archibald. Nix have said they are hoping to announce their first player next week. 
Personally I'd be very happy to retain the entire Nix squad next season if they all could stay fit! Oh and add a few more to the roster so they don't average 35 minutes a game.

Edit Riders need a new big man Nelson Henry going. Nix are safe there we didn't have any left apart from the incredible Ulf!! 

[dexter]

May 14, 2023 21:36:26 GMT reallyoldfeenixfan2 said:

May 14, 2023 21:11:47 GMT voise said:

If I could pick up a player from another team I'd be looking at someone like Archibald from the Nix to build a team around.

Hey keep your hands off Amorie Archibald. Nix have said they are hoping to announce their first player next week. 
Personally I'd be very happy to retain the entire Nix squad next season if they all could stay fit! Oh and add a few more to the roster so they don't average 35 minutes a game.

Edit Riders need a new big man Nelson Henry going. Nix are safe there we didn't have any left apart from the incredible Ulf!! 

Yes definitely DNH needs to be replaced and Menzies needs to be retained by Riders. Having said that, the teams playing in Europe next season might want to reach out to Menzies.

[D44]

As an Eagles fan I'm totally split. The team we ended the season with was starting to look good and if we could add a wing shooter with our remaining American spot the stability could be very good going forward. Maybe look at upgrading Kennedy (is Rowell coming back, he was in the crowd at a game towards end of season?).
But with Gordon likely to leave, French on a long term injury and Hamlet/Cohn having their very obvious defensive flaws part of me says rip it up, bring the 3 British vets back and start over.

[isthaturinal]

I think the answer to who should be retained is pretty simple.

#44 Fletch….
He’s an absolute BBL legend and still has plenty in the tank, I would love Rob to convince him not to retire and sign for Riders.

[massiveridersfan]

May 15, 2023 18:27:21 GMT isthaturinal said:

I think the answer to who should be retained is pretty simple.

#44 Fletch….
He’s an absolute BBL legend and still has plenty in the tank, I would love Rob to convince him not to retire and sign for Riders.

Always thought he'd be a fantastic addition to our roster.

[Stephen Abootman]

It surprises me that retaining the majority of this season's roster is something Eagles fans would even be entertaining the thought of. Despite backdooring a playoff spot at the expense of a poor Plymouth team, Newcastle's win percentage was actually worse this season than last. Don't think I'd be wanting many of this lot back.

No thanks re: Fletch. He's not getting any younger or any taller. Hasn't been a very efficient scorer in recent years. Career low FG% this season. Sub 30% from 3P range. The teams he's played on lately haven't exactly had a lot of success either. Nah.

Whether Carrington Love should be retained is a conversation I do think is worth having. Thought he was really good yesterday despite shooting the ball terribly. And therein lies the conundrum. He really has a good resume for this level and since moving into the starting lineup he's much better resembled the player he's been elsewhere. Does a lot of things well in my estimation. Good slasher. Doesn't have nearly Geno's length or athleticism but still finishes effectively around the rim. Rarely gets his shot blocked. Made 56% of his 2P FGA's this season. Only Zach and the two centres bettered that. Does a good job of collapsing the defense and finding open shooters. Does a good job of distributing the ball in general. And he's a good defender. Plays with a ton of energy at that end of the floor. Not hard to see how he set an all time steals record at Green Bay. The elephant in the room is quite obviously his putrid perimeter shooting.

I think he's a poor man's Geno in a lot of ways. And like Geno he doesn't need an exceptional outside shot to be effective. But 22% is unacceptably bad. You have to think that number is a bit of an aberration. He's always been up and down as a perimeter shooter but only once before has he shot sub 30% and that was in the fairly tough Belgian league. Shot a perfectly decent 36% last year in Germany on seven attempts per game. Wherever he plays next season you have to think he's gonna shoot threes a fair bit better than he has done this year. And I reckon he's an average 3P shot away from being a top guard in this league. Probably makes him a worthwhile gamble if the price is right.

[spacejammer]

May 15, 2023 21:46:47 GMT Stephen Abootman said:

It surprises me that retaining the majority of this season's roster is something Eagles fans would even be entertaining the thought of. Despite backdooring a playoff spot at the expense of a poor Plymouth team, Newcastle's win percentage was actually worse this season than last. Don't think I'd be wanting many of this lot back.

No thanks re: Fletch. He's not getting any younger or any taller. Hasn't been a very efficient scorer in recent years. Career low FG% this season. Sub 30% from 3P range. The teams he's played on lately haven't exactly had a lot of success either. Nah.

Whether Carrington Love should be retained is a conversation I do think is worth having. Thought he was really good yesterday despite shooting the ball terribly. And therein lies the conundrum. He really has a good resume for this level and since moving into the starting lineup he's much better resembled the player he's been elsewhere. Does a lot of things well in my estimation. Good slasher. Doesn't have nearly Geno's length or athleticism but still finishes effectively around the rim. Rarely gets his shot blocked. Made 56% of his 2P FGA's this season. Only Zach and the two centres bettered that. Does a good job of collapsing the defense and finding open shooters. Does a good job of distributing the ball in general. And he's a good defender. Plays with a ton of energy at that end of the floor. Not hard to see how he set an all time steals record at Green Bay. The elephant in the room is quite obviously his putrid perimeter shooting.

I think he's a poor man's Geno in a lot of ways. And like Geno he doesn't need an exceptional outside shot to be effective. But 22% is unacceptably bad. You have to think that number is a bit of an aberration. He's always been up and down as a perimeter shooter but only once before has he shot sub 30% and that was in the fairly tough Belgian league. Shot a perfectly decent 36% last year in Germany on seven attempts per game. Wherever he plays next season you have to think he's gonna shoot threes a fair bit better than he has done this year. And I reckon he's an average 3P shot away from being a top guard in this league. Probably makes him a worthwhile gamble if the price is right.

For the Eagles I understand its been a difficult season but sometimes in order to create success you need to build a team for more then one season.
And unlike last seasons team I felt this team showed more promise and cared a lot more then last seasons squad.

I feel what hurt us was again the fact that we changed things up to much this time.
By the time November/December came around most teams had gelled and knew each others game.
Whilst the Eagles we were still operating a revolving door by this point which wasn't good for team chemistry.

Whereas by the end of the season I felt the team got better and worked better together.
I reckon if we had played like we did in the final month we could have potentially finished mid table.

And also if we have a squad that knows each other better and has 1 year playing together under there belts.
Then potentially we might have an advantage at the beginning of the season.

As for Fletcher yes he was a lot older now but also one hell of a leader and one of the few players I would have had back at the Eagles in a heartbeat from the previous season.
I would have loved his last season to have been with us instead of Manchester.

Even if he goes back stateside I hope he makes a return to BBL and stays around the game in some capacity.

[erj14]

I'd be happy keeping Defoe, Kyle Johnson and Rowell Graham-Bell. Maybe Mockford at a push.

Of the imports, I would've liked to see French stay but injury looks long term. I don't get the impression any of the other imports are planning on staying. Hamlet was obviously talented but seemed mostly focused on getting his own numbers.

For me, the biggest challenge is going to be trying to establish another British core going forward. Defoe mustn't have long left, Johnson is on the wrong end of 30 as is Mockford. I think it's going to be vital to try and find some Brits who want to come and lay down roots here and generate a culture going year to year. As it will be for all BBL clubs.

[massiveridersfan]

May 15, 2023 21:46:47 GMT Stephen Abootman said:

It surprises me that retaining the majority of this season's roster is something Eagles fans would even be entertaining the thought of. Despite backdooring a playoff spot at the expense of a poor Plymouth team, Newcastle's win percentage was actually worse this season than last. Don't think I'd be wanting many of this lot back.

No thanks re: Fletch. He's not getting any younger or any taller. Hasn't been a very efficient scorer in recent years. Career low FG% this season. Sub 30% from 3P range. The teams he's played on lately haven't exactly had a lot of success either. Nah.

Whether Carrington Love should be retained is a conversation I do think is worth having. Thought he was really good yesterday despite shooting the ball terribly. And therein lies the conundrum. He really has a good resume for this level and since moving into the starting lineup he's much better resembled the player he's been elsewhere. Does a lot of things well in my estimation. Good slasher. Doesn't have nearly Geno's length or athleticism but still finishes effectively around the rim. Rarely gets his shot blocked. Made 56% of his 2P FGA's this season. Only Zach and the two centres bettered that. Does a good job of collapsing the defense and finding open shooters. Does a good job of distributing the ball in general. And he's a good defender. Plays with a ton of energy at that end of the floor. Not hard to see how he set an all time steals record at Green Bay. The elephant in the room is quite obviously his putrid perimeter shooting.

I think he's a poor man's Geno in a lot of ways. And like Geno he doesn't need an exceptional outside shot to be effective. But 22% is unacceptably bad. You have to think that number is a bit of an aberration. He's always been up and down as a perimeter shooter but only once before has he shot sub 30% and that was in the fairly tough Belgian league. Shot a perfectly decent 36% last year in Germany on seven attempts per game. Wherever he plays next season you have to think he's gonna shoot threes a fair bit better than he has done this year. And I reckon he's an average 3P shot away from being a top guard in this league. Probably makes him a worthwhile gamble if the price is right.

Geno was weak with his 3 point shooting. He literally worked on it all summer and returned as a good 3 point shooter in his second season. Can be done.

[johnmc]

Giants is a weird one.

I've swung between wanting to retain the core and tear it down. I think most of their ills are probably coaching related, and that'll be something to watch this summer.

Fletcher retiring also changes things.

Williams is under contract and a no-brainer, and I'd want to keep Green, Roberson and Robertin and can hear an argument for Lee - though his injury record is worrying.

But I think Roberson will go back to the G-League and Green will get a go at a Europe Cup team, or at least a more lucrative gig in Poland or Scandinavia.

If they go, bringing Lee back feels more appropriate.

I'd prioritise re-signing Jamell over any of those bar Dirk though.