Sun 19 May 1600 - PO final - Riders 93 v 61 Royals

You can only beat what’s in front of you & on this occasion it was a rather underwhelming royals outfit, well done riders yes but hardly anything to go overboard about like IRF has

Slightly off topic, but what’s the deal with Royals kit this season? Originally it was Nike branded, even though Kappa was the official brand of the BBL, but I noticed yesterday they their kit at some point became Kappa branded just like every other team. Anyone know what happened behind the scenes there?

Absolutely no ****s would be given 

I know you're an excitable chap IRF but I do think you need to slow down a bit here. Williams has probably been our MVP since coming on board but it's worth remembering that we strung together our worst run of results for a long time with him in the side. I'd suggest that run probably did more to cost us the league in fact than anything that preceded it. It was a two week spell which accounted for half of our league losses (assuming we're happy to ignore the final day loss to Lions). I think it's a pretty colossal reach to suggest that we'd have been some sort of shoe-in for the league had Williams been here from the start.

Yesterday was a very nice way to round off a not particularly good season but let's not allow it to cloud our judgement too much. There are a few on this team (including one or two probably quite well paid veterans) who I don't think should be very pleased with their performances this season and whose futures at the club ought to be reconsidered over the summer. It would be daft to think that we couldn't get better by replacing some of these guys.

Regarding Lions and Europe, I really hope it happens. They're the only logical option in terms of a BBL representative next season. And there's a part of me that thinks... if not now then when? Assuming it's only the league winners that earn a BCL invitation it might be years after this before they even have the opportunity again. They're coming off the best season in their history, they've got a core of players which would probably be better equipped to make an argument of it than Riders were this year. And I don't know how much longer they keep some of these guys without giving it a go. If Lions say no to Europe next season and Royals throw a bunch of money at Robinson this summer I don't know why he wouldn't leave? Worth bearing in mind too that the guy turns 32 in October. Even if he does stay long term he might not have all that many prime years left in him. One way or another, I think the window of opportunity for Lions could slam shut pretty quickly if they don't show the necessary ambition now.

If this league is ever going to grow and be taken seriously, we need teams to try make an impact in Europe. If we're happy with teams to struggle to get 2,000 people per game for the next ten years then yeah, just refer to Europe as a disruption.

Who,would you rather have in your team?

Hamilton
MBA

or 

Tim Williams

Williams is a high quality player but it took a little while to get the best from him, probably because we've not had a player with his low post skills in recent years apart from Thomson. I've no doubt that if we are fortunate enough to re-sign him he'd be a major player in the BBL next season. He makes it look effortless and doesn't grandstand (like MBA) so he's gone a bit under people's radar. He was crucial to our semifinal successes, especially without Hampton in the first game.

Look at the stats from the final:

MBA 19 points. 8 from 18 field goals at 44 per cent. 6 rebounds. (Not bad stats)

Williams 20 points. 10 from 12 field goals at 83 per cent. 10 rebounds.

Yet the theatrical, memorable moments will all be from MBA.

Whereas Williams just quietly gets on with it all

You can't really say "if being profitable is the only reason it's a shame"

Sadly not being profitable is HUGE reason not to enter. So when I say Europe was a disruption last season I also say that assuming that we lost a lot of money competing in Europe due to the very low crowds

If we had big crowds and it made a profit or even just broke even then of course we can handle the disruption and deal with it

But I'm sure last season was a disruption AND we lost a lot of money being disrupted. Despite getting lots of sponsors. The sponsors can't have been impressed by such low crowds themselves etc.

So yep there's more to my concerns than disruption. It simply didn't work with the fans for late notice games on Wednesday nights against teams that mean nothing to them and in a competition that means nothing to them. We didn't get corporate buy in either to any extent. I know the club hoped that Wednesday nights might attract corporate hospitality.

SADLY as a first time experiment in Europe - it wasn't very good at all off the court. On the court I thought we competed great despite losing the games.


We did it as a learning curve. I think from Robs comments after the experience he found it far tougher than he expected despite us competing well. But off the court I think it was far far tougher than we expected.

It's totally understandable if Riders DONT attempt it next season.

And I can't really see what would change if we did it again in the foreseable future. Someone would need very deep pockets IMO

Unless BBL prizemoney is going to all of a sudden increase to fund teams to take part

With the exception of true fanatics, who had ever heard of any of the clubs that Riders faced in the Euros? I certainly hadn't. I can't say that I follow Danish or Hungarian club basketball that closely, for example. It's not going to excite the general population of the East Midlands or attract sponsors. Just isn't. Ever - unless there's a seismic shift in basketball in the UK and I just don't see that coming. Maybe if there was a Real Madrid, CSKA, Bayern Munich or Besiktas it might be different. As such, Interested has it. An intriguing experiment but a costly one and evidence suggests a disruptive one if a club's BBL success is a goal. Pity.

Williams had been here for a month and a half by the time we went on that run. I really think he ought to have been 'bedded in' by that point. He actually went for 20+ in two of those losses. The guy's a good player, I'm not disputing that. Our MVP since he arrived and certainly one to try (probably unsuccessfully) to keep. But it's crazy to suggest we definitely win the league if he's here from the start, given some of the awful results achieved with him in the side.

Equally crazy to imagine that because we've won a trophy now everyone on this roster's had a great season and should be brought back. After a very encouraging start, Douse's season has petered out into a major disappointment and frankly, he's had the look of a player with one foot out of the door for a while now. Lascelles is another who's pretty much fallen out of the rotation as the season's progressed. Brandon Clark Vol. 2 hasn't really been a success. Thomson's been poor since the turn of the year and save for one good game against Plymouth, made virtually no impression at all in the playoffs. Hampton's had a sub-par year. I think there are serious question marks hanging over half the roster personally.

It was nice to finish the season on a high but just for once can we avoid getting massively carried away.
Very few I imagine. Which is precisely why we should have produced preview pieces for these games. Told fans a bit about the opposition, explained to them why they should care. From what I can remember the club made virtually no effort at all to market our European fixtures. I think we were a little ambitious with ticket prices too and I can't really remember us offering much at all in terms of promotions/giveaways. We did offer a bundle ticket for our final two home games but it was too little too late at that point and the discount was hardly generous. I imagine very few bought it. Throw in a team that went win-less and a less than helpful schedule and it's hardly surprising that the whole thing wasn't particularly well received. 

It probably didn't help either that two of our three home Europe Cup games were played at the very end of the round and were basically dead rubbers. We were 0-6 overall at this point, mathematically eliminated from the competition and any interest that may have been there at the start had largely subsided. The attendance for our opening game against Bakken actually wasn't that bad at all...



Not a full house but a pretty decent turnout I'd suggest for a game played on a Thursday evening in September. As good a crowd as I imagine we'd have got for a BBL fixture played under the same conditions. Compare that to the crowd for our final fixture against Olaj and the difference is night and day. It's like a London Royals home game...



Had we won a game or two and been in with a semi-realistic chance of qualifying for the second round by the time those final two games rolled around, I don't think attendances would have been anywhere near as dire. Ultimately I think there are quite a lot of ways for future efforts to go better and to completely throw in the towel after one poor attempt would be defeatist in the extreme.