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Post by spacejammer on Aug 24, 2023 18:01:10 GMT
I forgot to mention I bumped into Paul Blake yesterday. He said the team are all present and seemed happy with the recruitment. As for whether we do better this season it was a definite "maybe, we'll see". Crikey taking on the BBL and Europe with 10 players! I mean I like the squad we assembled but if we're going in with only a squad of 10 including an aging Darius Defoe then I reckon we might struggle injury wise come Christmas. I mean for the players atleast it means they will all definitely get a substantial amount minutes but I reckon at some point in the season we are probably going to be in need of 1 or 2 reinforcements. |
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Post by erj14 on Aug 25, 2023 0:34:28 GMT
Not that confident about Eagles' chances in Europe or abroad this season. That frontcourt looks thin, especially when you take injury histories and age in to account. Lack of shooting in the backcourt might be an issue as well.
With the recruitment of the other teams being stepped up, I can see a lower half of the table finish in the BBL.
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Post by D44 on Aug 25, 2023 9:54:03 GMT
We've went full circle from how are Eagles going to keep all these players happy to deciding they don't have enough players pretty quickly 🤣
4 guards, 3 wings and 3 bigs seems reasonable.
I'm still excited, best starting 5 we've had since we last won the playoffs imo and maybe the deepest roster ever. I'd still like another player in the frontcourt but getting a British passport big here to potentially not play much other than in an injury crisis isn't going to be easy. Maybe it's the collective trauma of past Eagles seasons where it's game over as soon as our starting centre is injured.
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Post by erj14 on Aug 25, 2023 14:18:00 GMT
We've went full circle from how are Eagles going to keep all these players happy to deciding they don't have enough players pretty quickly 🤣 4 guards, 3 wings and 3 bigs seems reasonable. I'm still excited, best starting 5 we've had since we last won the playoffs imo and maybe the deepest roster ever. I'd still like another player in the frontcourt but getting a British passport big here to potentially not play much other than in an injury crisis isn't going to be easy. Maybe it's the collective trauma of past Eagles seasons where it's game over as soon as our starting centre is injured. Lol. I'm probably being over pessimistic, that's generally my nature. I'm impressed with the calibre of player other teams have brought in, it's going to be really interesting to see how Steutel's 'safe' recruitment will stack up against the teams who've shaken things up more. |
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Post by massiveridersfan on Aug 25, 2023 22:02:32 GMT
He's going to look pretty silly if he can't get that roster to be one of the best in the BBL. We saw something like that with Lions when Vince was coach but 777 were pumping big wodges of cash into the club.
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Post by erj14 on Aug 25, 2023 23:17:48 GMT
He's going to look pretty silly if he can't get that roster to be one of the best in the BBL. We saw something like that with Lions when Vince was coach but 777 were pumping big wodges of cash into the club. Has the potential to be the same thing, I'd argue on a smaller scale though. There is no ex NBA players on that Eagles roster. My worry is that McGill looked good 3 seasons ago, Jordan Johnson 2 seasons ago. Has the league moved on since then? I don't know the answer, that's what intrigues me. |
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Post by Stephen Abootman on Aug 26, 2023 1:58:11 GMT
Strange the way some are making ten senior players sound light. With the possible exception of Lions, no BBL team will be significantly deeper than that. Gladiators are just about eleven deep this year. Once you've eliminated the fluff, Flyers are only nine deep and that's including Corey Samuels who averaged 2 ppg last season. If Eagles manage to stink again this year it won't be due to a lack of numbers.
With regards to 'taking on Europe', we are only talking about the ENBL here. The fact that a team playing in an 800 capacity college gym and a team that finished 8th in the BBL last season are participating in this competition tells you all you need to know about the entry requirements. There will be some good teams involved. But you don't need to be London Lions to compete at this sort of level. And I fancy there's a couple of proper minnows in Eagles' group. It shouldn't be all that difficult to win a few games.
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Post by eagles18000 on Aug 26, 2023 7:57:14 GMT
10 is more than enough. Only 200 mins in a game and good players aren’t in the bbl not to play
Has the league moved on?
Well realistically Rob would have performed a miracle if leicester are as good this year as the last two having replaced so many high level vets with rookies
Manchester and Plymouth are also going to be nowhere near the level they were 2-3 years ago. So that’s 30% of the league to start with which hasn’t.
London, Caledonia have. That’s 20%
Leaves Sheffield, Cheshire, Surrey (who must be better, surely) and Bristol who are also going to struggle to replicate the incredible year they had last year.
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Post by irf on Aug 26, 2023 9:20:15 GMT
Strange the way some are making ten senior players sound light. With the possible exception of Lions, no BBL team will be significantly deeper than that. Gladiators are just about eleven deep this year. Once you've eliminated the fluff, Flyers are only nine deep and that's including Corey Samuels who averaged 2 ppg last season. If Eagles manage to stink again this year it won't be due to a lack of numbers. With regards to 'taking on Europe', we are only talking about the ENBL here. The fact that a team playing in an 800 capacity college gym and a team that finished 8th in the BBL last season are participating in this competition tells you all you need to know about the entry requirements. There will be some good teams involved. But you don't need to be London Lions to compete at this sort of level. And I fancy there's a couple of proper minnows in Eagles' group. It shouldn't be all that difficult to win a few games. Sounds like "lazy europe" to back up their "lazy recruitment" then ? Could what Eagles are doing be considered a form of cheating? Lol I'm only joking guys!! |
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Post by spacejammer on Aug 26, 2023 9:29:35 GMT
Strange the way some are making ten senior players sound light. With the possible exception of Lions, no BBL team will be significantly deeper than that. Gladiators are just about eleven deep this year. Once you've eliminated the fluff, Flyers are only nine deep and that's including Corey Samuels who averaged 2 ppg last season. If Eagles manage to stink again this year it won't be due to a lack of numbers. With regards to 'taking on Europe', we are only talking about the ENBL here. The fact that a team playing in an 800 capacity college gym and a team that finished 8th in the BBL last season are participating in this competition tells you all you need to know about the entry requirements. There will be some good teams involved. But you don't need to be London Lions to compete at this sort of level. And I fancy there's a couple of proper minnows in Eagles' group. It shouldn't be all that difficult to win a few games. I'm not saying the players we signed aren't good if anything I think our recruitment looks smart tactically as I feel we have gone more for experience rather then a whole bunch of newbies. If we were taking on the BBL alone the I would say 10 players should be enough. But trying to take on both Europe and the BBL and juggle 3 games a week with only 10 players the lack of depth does concern me for when injuries start piling up. I imagine it will be 11 or 12 as I suspect we will have Mammuni or some other local college or university kid to add to the roster as well. But unless Stetuel plans to give provide them with more then garbage minutes at the end of the game which they won't always get then we are going to be short staffed eventually. I mean look what happened to us in the Playoffs when we were playing London without French. The only other thing I am wondering if what will happen with the GB National Team if we lose our coach to any qualifier games? I know nothing for Team GB has been announced but if we lose Stetuel because he needs to go abroad to Europe somewhere. Will our coaching team still be able to steer the team? |
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Post by massiveridersfan on Aug 26, 2023 11:55:30 GMT
We all know that the players signed to Eagles are experienced, proven talents (despite some being injury prone) but we don't know whether Steutel can mould them into an effective force. He should have an easier task than others who've gone for a large number of rookies who are unknown quantities in terms of whether they can hack it as professionals. The key word in that sentence is of course 'should'.
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Post by spacejammer on Aug 26, 2023 12:25:32 GMT
We all know that the players signed to Eagles are experienced, proven talents (despite some being injury prone) but we don't know whether Steutel can mould them into an effective force. He should have an easier task than others who've gone for a large number of rookies who are unknown quantities in terms of whether they can hack it as professionals. The key word in that sentence is of course 'should'. Exactly what I have been saying. Now I believe in Steutel and like to think he will be able to steer this team. However I have seen it in both basketball and other team sports where you have a team of superstars and all the right pieces but ended up falling apart because they couldn't gel as a team. Which is why I think it is going to be a huge test for Steutel. Again last season I feel we gave him more of a pass because it was he debut season in the league. But given the talent he has signed if he cannot make it work with this group of and atleast get top 6 or top 4 I think questions would need to be asked. Looking at the Eagles Facebook page and the photos from pre season training it looks like a happy camp so far for the team. I suppose we will have to see come Christmas whether it will all still be smiles. Either way come September I look forward to seeing the team in action where we will finally be able to prove it or not. |
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Post by dexter on Aug 26, 2023 12:45:25 GMT
I am very interested in this team. For the BBL it is an All Star team, but these are all BBL players not millionaires so there shouldn't be an issue of big egos. Part of what makes these players star players is their good attitudes. If the coach cannot make a top 4 team out of these players that's on him.
I expect they probably will need to bring in another player as we get into the season but it's probably a good idea to wait and see what kind of player is needed and who is available
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Post by spacejammer on Aug 26, 2023 14:37:14 GMT
I am very interested in this team. For the BBL it is an All Star team, but these are all BBL players not millionaires so there shouldn't be an issue of big egos. Part of what makes these players star players is their good attitudes. If the coach cannot make a top 4 team out of these players that's on him. I expect they probably will need to bring in another player as we get into the season but it's probably a good idea to wait and see what kind of player is needed and who is available Thats a fair point actually and I never looked it from that prospective. We do have tough games early on with Riders and Lions but I suppose it might be smart to wait it out and bring a suprise wildcard in later on if it is needed. I suppose it worked well last year when we brought French in mid season. Without him I'm not sure we would have even made the post season. Might even be a tactical strategy so if London or Leicester beat us early on. We can then suprise them by unleashing a suprised package and say waahhhaa in an evil like tone. However if Marc isn't planning to bring anyone in then I sure as hell hope our team can remain fit and healthy throughout the season. |
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Post by massiveridersfan on Aug 26, 2023 16:16:34 GMT
I am very interested in this team. For the BBL it is an All Star team, but these are all BBL players not millionaires so there shouldn't be an issue of big egos. Part of what makes these players star players is their good attitudes. If the coach cannot make a top 4 team out of these players that's on him. I expect they probably will need to bring in another player as we get into the season but it's probably a good idea to wait and see what kind of player is needed and who is available Thats a fair point actually and I never looked it from that prospective. We do have tough games early on with Riders and Lions but I suppose it might be smart to wait it out and bring a suprise wildcard in later on if it is needed. I suppose it worked well last year when we brought French in mid season. Without him I'm not sure we would have even made the post season. Might even be a tactical strategy so if London or Leicester beat us early on. We can then suprise them by unleashing a suprised package and say waahhhaa in an evil like tone. However if Marc isn't planning to bring anyone in then I sure as hell hope our team can remain fit and healthy throughout the season. Surely every team suffers a loss of some players owing to injury at some point during the season? Riders usually go one better and lose players before the season even starts... |
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Post by spacejammer on Sept 2, 2023 11:43:15 GMT
I think we announced out final 2 signings being the kids Mamuni and Kande the other day but no news on the ENBL fixtures yet.
I have a feeling we're probably waiting for United to announce their Champions League Fixtures first which were announced today so we can avoid a clash.
I hope they get announced soon as they were meant to be annouced about 2 weeks ago but no news.
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Post by LTfan on Dec 7, 2023 14:13:00 GMT
Listening to the latest 'Drew and Jay Podcast'... interesting interview with Justin Robinson, apparently he too was made an offer to join Newcastle for the 2023/24 season, but ultimatley opted for Surrey to avoid having to relocate him and his family. So the 'all-star' BBL team could have been an even more all-star BBL Team, that would have been interesting to see!
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Post by spacejammer on Dec 7, 2023 21:54:11 GMT
Listening to the latest 'Drew and Jay Podcast'... interesting interview with Justin Robinson, apparently he too was made an offer to join Newcastle for the 2023/24 season, but ultimatley opted for Surrey to avoid having to relocate him and his family. So the 'all-star' BBL team could have been an even more all-star BBL Team, that would have been interesting to see! To be honest after seeing how he played last week I would happily trade Scott Spencer for Robison any day of the week right now. Would have been great to see him in Newcastle but I respect the choice he made was what he felt was best for his family. |
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