Pipers Song Issue 2
Posted on October 17th, 2007 by Neil PiperBitesize BBL
So the new BBL season is off to a flying start. Some great games have already taken place notably between the Heat and the Sharks and more recently between the Rocks and the Eagles. Yes the competition in the BBL is definitely flourishing. But whilst that might be true about the top half of the BBL table, it remains a different story when we look at the teams bringing up the rear of the league.
Unsurprisingly both the Everton Tigers and the Birmingham Panthers have struggled in their inaugural BBL seasons and after bearing witness to the Rocks convincing home victory over the Cheshire Jets, there is little doubt that a gulf exists between the teams in the top and bottom sections of the league. So should we be worried about the state of competition in British basketball? Or is this just a pattern that is endemic of sport worldwide?
Consider football for example. Both the English and Scottish Premier Leagues have quite severe gulfs between teams in the top, middle and bottom sections of their respective leagues. Almost every football fan in Scotland knows that the league title will end up in the hands of Celtic or Rangers (sorry Hibs fans!) and almost every football fan in England knows that the league title will end up in the hands of Chelsea or Manchester United (despite Arsenal’s impressive start). So does this situation lead to a stagnation of competition amongst teams in football and other sports? And will this pattern continue as the BBL grows and welcomes new teams to the fold?
I think it most likely will, but ultimately I think this can be a good thing. As new teams join the BBL it can only be healthy for them to look at BBL stalwarts like the Rocks, the Eagles and the Heat and see those ties as their veritable “cup final.” This creates greater competition by causing the newer teams to raise their games. Also teams like the Rocks, Eagles and Heat serve as good examples to new BBL teams on how to run their affairs both on and off the court in order for them to gravitate to become a regular top-half team. The Plymouth Raiders are the perfect example of this. An impressive community programme, alongside the vision of Gary Stronach for the club both on and off the court demonstrates the ability for a team to move into the BBL in just a few short years; their place sealed by their BBL Trophy victory last year.
So for teams like the Panthers and the Tigers, being a member of the BBL elite is not such a distant dream. In football’s case, it will be very very rare for a team to gravitate into the elite of either the Scottish or English Premier League primarily thanks to the respective finances of teams in respective areas of each league. The continuing growth of the BBL and of basketball in Britain allows new teams to aim high and join the BBL elite relatively quickly. Indeed there is a much greater chance that you will see the Everton Tigers or the Birmingham Panthers crowned as BBL champions in 5 years time than you will see Everton FC or Birmingham City FC win the English Premier League. So for those teams in the bottom section of the table, the good times may not be that far away.
Across the Pond
For those of us that were fortunate enough to have 1 of the 18,689 tickets available for the NBA pre-season game between the Boston Celtics and the Minnesota Timberwolves, it was an experience that even the casual fan will struggle to forget. The O2 Arena joins the Manchester Evening News Arena as one of Britain’s 2 World Class sporting arenas which rival arenas in both North America and Europe. The game was as exciting as an NBA pre-season game can be, but that wasn’t the point for the NBA or for basketball in this country. The London Evening Standard ran a 16 page NBA pull-out the day before the Celtics / Timberwolves game. Five US screened live coverage of the entire game with a preview show the evening before. For just a short time basketball was high on the British sporting agenda and for any follower of a sport that has suffered a number of false dawns in Britain, that can only be a good thing.
Even better news is the rumour that followed the game: the NBA will return to play future pre-season games in the UK and there is a good chance that the O2 Arena will host the first NBA All-Star Game to be played outside the USA – but when that will be, no one can tell. And it wasn’t just the fans who were impressed. Timberwolves Guard Ricky Davis commented on the atmosphere:
“It was electrifying. That’s what we need in the States.”
Even ex-Timberwolf Kevin Garnett mentioned the “great energy in the building.”
The presence of a range of celebrities from Formula One star Lewis Hamilton, Chelsea forward Didier Drogba to My Family and Love Actually actor Kris Marshall added to an occasion that many will look forward to returning to these shores as soon as possible.
The spread of the global phenomenon that is the NBA continues in earnest over the next 2 weeks. The NBA Europe Live tour has seen teams hold training camps and play pre-season games in Spain, Italy, Turkey and of course, the UK. Now the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic jet off to China for the NBA’s China Games involving games against Chinese teams and each other. The action for real gets underway on the 30th October.
Final Thought
You have to give a lot of credit to Sheffield Sharks Head Coach Pete Scantlebury for the way the Sharks have started this season. Having lost all of their starting 5 from last year Scantlebury has shown he is a great recruiter as well as a good “X and O” coach.