BBL Games Friday 2nd February

[spacejammer]

Feb 2, 2024 22:22:37 GMT cosbyrider said:

Any reports on the away attendance in Newcastle then?

Not a clue although the home attendance as usual was well packed out tonight but not enough to put the Lions off.
Whilst I love a packed house I was praying we didn't get humiliated.

By the end of the game the crowd was quiet but alot stayed for autographs from the players which was nice to see despite the defeat.

Didn't see any Lions fans but wasn't really expecting too since their wasn't much riding on this game.

[dexter]

I didn't watch the games (watching Six Nations instead) but I do think the score of Newcastle Vs London, and previous encounters, does raise questions about Newcastle's defense.

[spacejammer]

Feb 2, 2024 23:00:53 GMT dexter said:

I didn't watch the games (watching Six Nations instead) but I do think the score of Newcastle Vs London, and previous encounters, does raise questions about Newcastle's defense.

Defensively tonight we struggled alot but offensively I felt for Lions when they had their starting 5 on the floor to begin the game the kitchen door was practically locked.

But after the first timeout when your bench came in the door propped open and we started to get back into it.
However for me it felt like at times for Lions it was a mixture of giving the starters a rest plus a training exercise for the bench to.

Let's be honest Sharma and Connor Morgan seemed so poor at times I questioned why coach Bozic was keeping the on.
And also why when we cut the lead to 2 he didn't call timeout sooner.
Which infuriated me as the second he called timeout the refs decided to make it a Media timeout and give them a freebie.

My only conclusion to that was he might have been treating as it might be best to run their struggling players anyway so come the big games if they have a tough game foul wise and Olaseni, Nwaba or Matt Morgan are out then you get those guys practice for if they need to step in and save the day.

[dexter]

Feb 2, 2024 23:13:56 GMT spacejammer said:

Feb 2, 2024 23:00:53 GMT dexter said:

I didn't watch the games (watching Six Nations instead) but I do think the score of Newcastle Vs London, and previous encounters, does raise questions about Newcastle's defense.

Defensively tonight we struggled alot but offensively I felt for Lions when they had their starting 5 on the floor to begin the game the kitchen door was practically locked.

But after the first timeout when your bench came in the door propped open and we started to get back into it.
However for me it felt like at times for Lions it was a mixture of giving the starters a rest plus a training exercise for the bench to.

Let's be honest Sharma and Connor Morgan seemed so poor at times I questioned why coach Bozic was keeping the on.
And also why when we cut the lead to 2 he didn't call timeout sooner.
Which infuriated me as the second he called timeout the refs decided to make it a Media timeout and give them a freebie.

My only conclusion to that was he might have been treating as it might be best to run their struggling players anyway so come the big games if they have a tough game foul wise and Olaseni, Nwaba or Matt Morgan are out then you get those guys practice for if they need to step in and save the day.

I do think there maybe should be a place in the match day squad for Justin Hopkins. He looked very good defensively in the ENBL last week. If he had played in the 3rd quarter this evening could he have made a difference?

[erj14]

Feb 2, 2024 22:22:37 GMT cosbyrider said:

Any reports on the away attendance in Newcastle then?

ZERO.

London were very good and looked like they were locked in from the start.

[spacejammer]

Feb 2, 2024 23:37:52 GMT dexter said:

Feb 2, 2024 23:13:56 GMT spacejammer said:

Defensively tonight we struggled alot but offensively I felt for Lions when they had their starting 5 on the floor to begin the game the kitchen door was practically locked.

But after the first timeout when your bench came in the door propped open and we started to get back into it.
However for me it felt like at times for Lions it was a mixture of giving the starters a rest plus a training exercise for the bench to.

Let's be honest Sharma and Connor Morgan seemed so poor at times I questioned why coach Bozic was keeping the on.
And also why when we cut the lead to 2 he didn't call timeout sooner.
Which infuriated me as the second he called timeout the refs decided to make it a Media timeout and give them a freebie.

My only conclusion to that was he might have been treating as it might be best to run their struggling players anyway so come the big games if they have a tough game foul wise and Olaseni, Nwaba or Matt Morgan are out then you get those guys practice for if they need to step in and save the day.

I do think there maybe should be a place in the match day squad for Justin Hopkins. He looked very good defensively in the ENBL last week. If he had played in the 3rd quarter this evening could he have made a difference?

There should be but I think theirs issues with import restrictions and with him being a student.
Due to some rules I think their might be some complications preventing him from being on our squad for BBL matches.

Whether he is back for our game against Gora at home though I do wonder as he wasn't on the team against Keila the other night.
But I imagined that was because we had Larry, Josh and Scott back and was to help keep travel costs down since it appears we didn't take Kande either.

[dexter]

Feb 3, 2024 7:44:29 GMT spacejammer said:

Feb 2, 2024 23:37:52 GMT dexter said:

I do think there maybe should be a place in the match day squad for Justin Hopkins. He looked very good defensively in the ENBL last week. If he had played in the 3rd quarter this evening could he have made a difference?

There should be but I think theirs issues with import restrictions and with him being a student.
Due to some rules I think their might be some complications preventing him from being on our squad for BBL matches.

Whether he is back for our game against Gora at home though I do wonder as he wasn't on the team against Keila the other night.
But I imagined that was because we had Larry, Josh and Scott back and was to help keep travel costs down since it appears we didn't take Kande either.

It would be good to see him in the squad Vs Gora. That is a really important game. There were probably a lot of people wishing Eagles hadn't committed to ENBL with their injury problems and the extra costs, but it's starting to feel worth it now. Every team that qualifies for the ENBL playoffs has a chance, which is more than I can say for the BBL.