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Post by Steven McTowelie on May 21, 2019 23:30:50 GMT
The opening game we had plenty of time to focus on and market and promote Steve. It was still a disappointing crowd. Williams had to get used to BBL and us used to him and learn the plays. He's been very consistent since then and so has the team If someone wants to bankroll us this year then fair enough but it's not sustainable without that Re the players Hampton came back at start of the season in great form. Injury derailed him. Douse and lascelles are back ups really now. Thomson for me still has a role to play. It's good news he hasn't struggled with injuries this season Anderson and Washington ended the season well Clark has been poor but tbf to him Dan routledge said on Sunday that unknown to most BBL fans Clark has been playing with a knee injury for the last 2 months I guess we have to decide whether to bring Clark back or try a new rookie point guard. Either way Conner is looking solid in that role now. Williams was a consistently good performer for us from the moment he arrived. I'm sorry but drawing a line through those four losses because the guy had *only* been here for a month and a half just doesn't work. Not so sure about AT personally. Averaged 5 ppg on 29% shooting in the playoffs and if you look at his splits, he really wasn't very productive at all from January onward. 7 and 4 doesn't sound like particularly great value for money to me from what I imagine is one of our top earners and he's getting worse not better at this stage in his career. Far from an automatic re-sign in my view. I don't honestly recall us pushing the Bakken fixture all that hard and I'm struggling to understand how that was a particularly disappointing attendance. When the camera pans out at the end of the game the place seems pretty full. Looks to me like the kind of attendance we'd be content with for any midweek game, almost regardless of the opposition. It'll be Lions or no one next season I fancy but I'll be disappointed if we don't seriously consider giving Europe another go whenever we next win the league. I think it would be very premature to conclude that there's no interest in European basketball purely on the basis that few turned up to watch a win-less team play a couple of overpriced, poorly marketed dead rubbers. |
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Post by LTFan on May 22, 2019 8:40:36 GMT
I really hope someone from the BBL gives Europe a go next season, for all the reasons others have already stated. And if it’s only going to be one team, then I agree it only seems fair for Lions to step up. We can’t allow Europe to be seen as a ‘disruption’. I think Lions biggest obstacle is the Copper Box arena. I just can’t see how that could work, and be profitable. And if that’s the only reason stopping a BBL team from being in Europe next season then that’s a real shame. You can't really say "if being profitable is the only reason it's a shame". But it is, isn’t it? If Lions, Riders, or whoever, were seriously of a standard where we think they could be serious contenders in a European competition then it would be shame if the only thing stopping them from entering was the cost of booking their venue for the required number of dates (which then may or may not be used). How would that not be a shame? As it turns out, I’m not convinced any BBL team is of a standard yet to be serious contenders in Europe. But I’d like to see them try, and hopefully be proved wrong. It’s a similar shame that in the WBBL the Sevenoaks Suns, arguably the most successful WBBL team of recent years, have had to repeatedly decline European invites because they don’t have a venue of the required standard (they essentially play in a leisure centre – it’s not even close to BBL standards). |
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Post by interestedridersfan on May 22, 2019 9:17:33 GMT
Sorry think we are at crossed wires - I was focusing on being profitable in general (not just focusing on the venue booking part)
The venues are one cost - but hosting the other team ain the required quality hotels etc and travel to Europe are probably much more significant costs
There are potential 100k plus losses for clubs with the wrong draw and not enough ticket sales. Of which venue booking costs will only be a contributor rather than only reason
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Post by LTFan on May 22, 2019 11:04:54 GMT
Sorry think we are at crossed wires - I was focusing on being profitable in general (not just focusing on the venue booking part) The venues are one cost - but hosting the other team ain the required quality hotels etc and travel to Europe are probably much more significant costs There are potential 100k plus losses for clubs with the wrong draw and not enough ticket sales. Of which venue booking costs will only be a contributor rather than only reason Fair point. I suppose what I’m saying is that hiring the Copper Box the required amount of dates will cost considerably more for Lions than it cost Riders with their venue this season (for obvious reasons). So not only would Lions have all the costs Riders had to deal with, they’ll also have additional costs too due to the fact they play at the Copper Box. And in London, which is a more expensive location in terms of hosting visiting teams. And for that reason if it wasn’t profitable for Riders this season then it’s even less likely to be so for Lions next season, regardless of how competitive they would actually be in a European competition. And if that means they conclude they won’t accept the invite, then that’s a shame. |
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Post by interestedridersfan on May 22, 2019 11:12:12 GMT
Sorry think we are at crossed wires - I was focusing on being profitable in general (not just focusing on the venue booking part) The venues are one cost - but hosting the other team ain the required quality hotels etc and travel to Europe are probably much more significant costs There are potential 100k plus losses for clubs with the wrong draw and not enough ticket sales. Of which venue booking costs will only be a contributor rather than only reason Fair point. I suppose what I’m saying is that hiring the Copper Box the required amount of dates will cost considerably more for Lions than it cost Riders with their venue this season (for obvious reasons). So not only would Lions have all the costs Riders had to deal with, they’ll also have additional costs too due to the fact they play at the Copper Box. And in London, which is a more expensive location in terms of hosting visiting teams. And for that reason if it wasn’t profitable for Riders this season then it’s even less likely to be so for Lions next season, regardless of how competitive they would actually be in a European competition. And if that means they conclude they won’t accept the invite, then that’s a shame. Realistically how many paying fans will Lions get for a midweek game against euro opposition? |
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Post by LTFan on May 22, 2019 11:54:00 GMT
Fair point. I suppose what I’m saying is that hiring the Copper Box the required amount of dates will cost considerably more for Lions than it cost Riders with their venue this season (for obvious reasons). So not only would Lions have all the costs Riders had to deal with, they’ll also have additional costs too due to the fact they play at the Copper Box. And in London, which is a more expensive location in terms of hosting visiting teams. And for that reason if it wasn’t profitable for Riders this season then it’s even less likely to be so for Lions next season, regardless of how competitive they would actually be in a European competition. And if that means they conclude they won’t accept the invite, then that’s a shame. Realistically how many paying fans will Lions get for a midweek game against euro opposition? Certainly less than a thousand, which I’m guessing is what Riders were getting? So if Riders couldn’t make it work financially then Lions, with higher ‘running’ costs (venue hire, London hotels etc.), won’t be able to either. It’s just a shame we’re having this discussion. Success in Europe should be based on the standard of basketball being played, not on the balance of your bank account. But we’re not going to fix the problems of the world here. |
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Post by nixette on May 22, 2019 19:00:55 GMT
Sorry think we are at crossed wires - I was focusing on being profitable in general (not just focusing on the venue booking part) The venues are one cost - but hosting the other team ain the required quality hotels etc and travel to Europe are probably much more significant costs There are potential 100k plus losses for clubs with the wrong draw and not enough ticket sales. Of which venue booking costs will only be a contributor rather than only reason Fair point. I suppose what I’m saying is that hiring the Copper Box the required amount of dates will cost considerably more for Lions than it cost Riders with their venue this season (for obvious reasons). So not only would Lions have all the costs Riders had to deal with, they’ll also have additional costs too due to the fact they play at the Copper Box. And in London, which is a more expensive location in terms of hosting visiting teams. And for that reason if it wasn’t profitable for Riders this season then it’s even less likely to be so for Lions next season, regardless of how competitive they would actually be in a European competition. And if that means they conclude they won’t accept the invite, then that’s a shame. It is a different market. They got a decent turn out for the ball circus. Again a different market but if it’s going to work you’d think London is the best chance. I suspect Riders will settle to play nationally now after last year’s losses. Credit them for trying though. I really wish it had gone better for them. |
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