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| FINAL 12 SELECTED FOR EUROBASKET 2011 |
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| BBL LEGEND NATE REINKING |
The Standard Life GB men’s final 12 for EuroBasket has been confirmed by British Basketball.
Ryan Richards has been released from the squad. Performance Director, Chris Spice has been impressed by Ryan’s performances this summer and is optimistic about his future international career: "Ryan has had a great summer with British Basketball starting back in June with the under 20 programme. His great performances there and at the front of the senior camp meant he was still in the mix to the very end which is a credit to his effort. If he continues to improve on the little things in his game then he will have a lengthy international basketball career. We look forward to seeing him progress and we wish him well in his upcoming club season."
The first round of EuroBasket will be hosted in Panevezys where the Standard Life GB men will take on the home nation Lithuania (31 Aug), Turkey (1 Sept), Spain (2 Sept), Portugal (4 Sept) and Poland (5 Sept).
Standard Life GB Final 12:
Adegboye, Ogo - England
Archibald, Robert - Scotland
Boateng, Eric - England
Clark, Dan - England
Deng, Luol - England
Freeland, Joel - England
Johnson, Kyle - England
Lawrence, Andrew - England
Lenzly, Mike - England
Reinking, Nate - England
Sullivan, Andrew - England
van Oostrum, Devon - England |
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| LUOL DENG CLEARED TO PLAY FOR EUROBASKET 2011 |
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| NBA SUPERSTAR LUOL DENG |
We are thrilled to announce today that Chicago Bulls star Luol Deng will be competing for the Standard Life Great Britain team in EuroBasket 2011 taking place from 31st August to 18th September in Lithuania.
It is no secret that international players wanting to participate for their respective countries face significant liability issues and Luol's team worked around the clock with Ron Wuotila and other GB representatives for the last month to ensure that Luol would be able to compete in his first ever EuroBasket Finals.
Luol is delighted with the outcome: "Playing for GB has always been hugely important to me so I'm really glad we could resolve this. It has been a long process but a great team effort. I can't wait to get back to the UK to run my Foundation camps before joining up with the team to prepare for Lithuania."
Brian Heidelberger, Deng's Chicago based attorney from Winston & Strawn LLP was glad to help in this process: "We were delighted that we could fulfil Luol's strong desire to compete for his country while at the same time protecting his business interests. GB means a huge amount to Luol which, in turn, means a huge amount to his management team."
British Basketball’s Performance Director, Chris Spice commented on Luol’s inclusion: “It is great for basketball in Britain that Luol has signed up for our programme again this summer. He has always been a great supporter of the GB basketball programme and we are excited to have him on the court again this year after he played such a key role for us in qualifying last year.
“With Olympic tickets sold out it is fantastic that the British public will get to see Luol play in the Olympic Basketball Arena in the London International Basketball Invitational tournament in two weeks time.”
Luol will still be in attendance at his summer camp in Loughborough and will then join GB in their lead up to EuroBasket 2011. Luol will join the team as they compete in the LOCOG’s Olympic test event tournament, he will then play in their final test-game in Latvia before travelling to Lithuania for the EuroBasket Finals 2011.
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| JOHN AMAECHI OBE |
PERO CAMERON NZOM |
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| AWARDED IN THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY HONOURS LIST |
| BRITISH BASKETBALL PAYS TRIBUTE TO TONY WINDLESS |
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| BBL LEGEND TONY WINDLESS |
The Leicester Riders will be hosting the Tony Windless Testimonial on Saturday 25th June 2011 to celebrate the end of the BBL legend's career which first began in 1994 with the London Towers.
Tony Windless will be waving goodbye to the Leicester Riders and the league he has entertained for so long with one final game to be held at the John Sandford Centre with tip-off at 4:30pm. The line-ups will be made up of BBL and Leicester Riders legends past and present with 2010/11 treble winning Mersey Tigers coach, Tony Garbelotto and legendary BBL Coach and former Tony Windless tamer, Kevin Cadle patrolling the sidelines.
As one of the most decorated players in BBL history, Windless is looking forward to closing the final chapter of his glittering BBL career in a game surrounded by both friends and former enemies:
"I'm grateful to the Leicester Riders to be sending me out in style and I'm really excited to be playing against some of the all-time greats in this league and going up against guys I battled early in my career."
Line-ups are as follows:
Tony Windless, Robert Youngblood, Pete Deppisch, Ronnie Baker, Rob Paternostro, Shawn Jamison, Nigel Lloyd, Clive Allen, Dru Spink, Yorick Williams, Tony Simms and Martin Gottfried
Stedroy Baker, Martin Ford, Tom Sherlock, Walid Mumuni, Joe Burns, John Smith, Dave Harris, Hilroy Thomas, Barry Lamble, Malcolm Leak, Philip Perre, Steve Gayle, Santa Ataha and Leon Noel.
Tip-off is at 4.30pm on Saturday 25th June 2011 and tickets can be bought via the official Leicester Riders website or at the day on the door.
Tony Windless' career honours:
BBL All Star Team 2000/2001, 1994/1995
BBL All Star Game 2000/2001, 1999/2000, 1998/1999, 1996/1997, 1995/1996, 1994/1995 BBL Championship Winner 1995/1996 BBL Championship Runner Up 1996/1997 BBL Play-offs Winner 1996/1997 BBL Play-offs Runner Up 2007/2008, 1995/1996 BBL Cup Winner 2007/2008, 1995/1996 BBL Cup Runner Up 2004/2005 BBL Trophy Winner 1996/1997, 1995/1996 BBL Trophy Runner Up 2000/2001 |
| BASKETBALL BACK IN BIRMINGHAM FROM 2012/13 SEASON |
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| LEGENDARY BIRMINGHAM PLAYER TONY DORSEY |
The British Basketball League (BBL) is pleased to announce that they have granted an exclusive right to Oaks Consultancy to operate a Birmingham franchise from the start of 2012/13 season.
The introduction of the franchise marks a welcome return to BBL Club basketball for a City steeped in tradition in the sport.
BBL Chairman Paul Blake said 'We are delighted to have secured a new franchise in Birmingham as this meets one of our key strategic targets for franchise development. Birmingham is a basketball city which is already synonymous with some of the biggest games in the BBL calendar, we have every confidence that the new franchise will develop in to a significant player in UK Basketball'
Mark Walker of Oaks Consultancy added 'We are extremely excited about the opportunity to develop a successful BBL franchise in the City. The club will have a strong community ethos and work will be starting immediately in this area through an extensive community programme. We will be announcing the name of the team later in the summer of 2011 with the senior men's BBL team coming on line in September 2012. We recognise that a significant amount of basketball is already ongoing in the City and are looking forward to working alongside the existing basketball stakeholders'. |
REGULAR SEASON NOW OVER - PLAY OFF PICTURE COMPLETE |
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ROUND 1 OF THE 2011 PLAY-OFFS
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LEICESTER RIDERS |
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GUILDFORD HEAT |
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GLASGOW ROCKS |
CHESHIRE JETS |
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PLYMOUTH RAIDERS |
The BBL Championship Playoff picture is now complete after Sunday saw the final regular season games take place, with the only key movement seeing the Guildford Heat jump up to seventh place.
The Heat managed that after a 91-66 defeat of the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders, who drop to eighth. The Heat blew their visitors away in the opening five minutes, taking a lead of 22-2 and never looking back. The Hosts were led by Mike Martin's close to perfect performance of 22 points - from 10/10 shooting - 8 rebounds and 7 steals.
That means that the Heat will face the Newcastle Eagles in the Playoff quarter-finals, while the Riders will go up against the league champions: Mersey Tigers.
Elsewhere, the UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders stamped their mark on fifth place, setting up a Playoff meeting with the Cheshire Jets, after beating their South Coast rivals the Worthing Thunder 108-74. The Raiders take momentum into the post-season with three wins out of four in April, including a home defeat of the Jets at the start of the month.
The Raiders also blew away their opposition in the first half, leading 61-33 by the break. The lead was 34-20 by the end of the first quarter, as Chez Marks hit his fourth triple to take him to 14 points in the opening ten minutes. Anthony Rowe opened the second stanza with a triple to spark a 10-0 burst, which included a Germaine Forbes three-pointer and four more for Rowe, making the score 44-20.
The hosts were led by 27 points and 10 rebounds from Rowe, with Lehmon Colbert Jr and Evaldas Zabas leading the charge in the second half, adding 18 each.
North of the border, the Glasgow Rocks confirmed their sixth place finish in the BBL Championship, setting up a Playoff game with the Sheffield Sharks, as they beat the Prestige Homes MK Lions 89-72 on Sunday. The Rocks lost heavily to the Sharks on Wednesday night, so will need to turn that around if they are to go beyond the Playoff quarter-finals.
The Rocks were led by 25 points and 9 rebounds from Mike Copeland, while Nick Livas had a massive game with 15 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals. The key run came just before the half, as Copeland hit four free-throws in a 10-2 push to make the score 45-37 at the break, from where the hosts didn't look back.
Finally on Sunday, the Worcester Wolves, whose fate outside of the Playoff places was already sealed, knocked off the fourth-placed Cheshire Jets with a huge 86-109 road win. Worryingly for the Jets, that means that they go into their Playoff quarter-final with the Raiders having lost three of their four games in April, including a defeat to the Raiders earlier in the month.
Danny Gilbert finished the season in astonishing fashion, with 11 three-pointers and 37 points to go with his 8 rebounds. The Wolves had a lightning start to the game as they converted an early 5-0 advantage into a 7-19 lead after four minutes with Danny Gilbert netting four early three-pointers. But the Jets came all the way back to lead 35-34 in the second stanza, before giving that up in the run in to half time.
The visiting Wolves sealed the game with a key run at the end of the third quarter as, after the hosts had got back to within one, they rattled off 8 straight points including two three-pointers in 23 seconds from David Watts.
| MERSEY TIGERS WIN 2011 BBL CHAMPIONSHIP |
TIGERS DEFEAT NEWCASTLE EAGLES TO LIFT THE TROPHY |
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BBL Championship
Newcastle Eagles 75 (19,42,58) (Smith 24, Jackson 24, Defoe 9)
Mersey Tigers 80 (22,42,54) (Reinking 22, Toney 20, Thomson 18) |
Mersey Tigers are the BBL Championship winners after beating arch-rivals Newcastle Eagles 75-80 in the north-east to clinch the title.
Knowing a defeat would open the door for the Eagles, Mersey held them off over the last three minutes to win their first league title and add more silverware to the BBL Trophy, which they won earlier this year.
Former Eagle Tafari Toney (pictured) scored the basket that put Tigers up for good at 70-71. Nate Reinking added a three and then assisted on another Toney bucket.
Free throws by Toney, Reinking and Sullivan sealed the win and set off jubilant scenes at Sport Central.
Tigers had edged the first quarter 19-22 after a 10-17 lead had been tied at 19-19. It was an early sign of Newcastle's resilience - a theme that was set to continue.
Five points from Andrew Thomson midway through the second period saw Mersey lead by 10 (30-40). But it began an Eagles fightback. Reggie Jackson drained a three, Charles Smith followed with another and the score was tied at 40-40.
Two free throws from Smith made the match level (42-42) at half time but Eagles held the upper hand in the third quarter.
A Drew Lasker free throw made it 58-49 and it seemed as though the title was swinging back in Newcastle's favour. Reinking showed all his class to make a three and James Jones scored a lay-up at the buzzer to make it 58-54.
Eagles went out to 60-54 on a Fab Flournoy two before Tigers began to show their championship mettle.
The lead changed hands throughout the middle part of the final stanza until Toney gave Mersey it for good at 70-71. Reinking's three was too early to be a dagger but it gave Tigers breathing room.
Newcastle tried everything to force their way back into the match but three point attempts by Bridge, Lasker and two from Smith all missed to allow Tigers to celebrate a famous victory. |
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SEE THE ALL TIME LEAGUE WINNERS HERE 1972-2011 |
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THE 2011 BBL CHAMPIONSHIP RUN-IN...Oh BABY!!! |
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Tuesday 5th April 2011 |
Mersey Tigers v Sheffield Sharks - 7:30pm
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Wednesday 6th April 2011 |
Newcastle Eagles v Mersey Tigers - 7:30pm
Sheffield Sharks v Glasgow Rocks - 7:30pm
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Friday 8th April 2011 |
Newcastle Eagles v Glasgow Rocks - 7:30pm
Sheffield Sharks v Mersey Tigers - 7:30
MK Lions v Essex Pirates - 7:30
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Saturday 9th April 2011 |
Essex Pirates v Guildford Heat- 7:30pm
Leicester Riders v Newcastle Eagles- 7:30pm
Worcester Wolves v Plymouth Raiders- 7:30pm
Worthing Thunder v Cheshire Jets - 7:30pm - |
Sunday 10th April 2011 |
Cheshire Jets v Worcester Wolves - 5:30pm
Glasgow Rocks v MK Lions - 5:00pm
Guildford Heat v Leicester Riders - 3:00pm
Plymouth Raiders v Worthing Thunder - 4:00pm - |
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EVERY GAME A CHAMPIONSHIP DECIDER? TIGERS DEFEAT EAGLES |
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MERSEY TIGERS |
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NEWCASTLE EAGLES |
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SHEFFIELD SHARKS |
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CHESHIRE JETS |
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DATELINE - 23 03 11 |
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ROADBLOCK AT TOP OF BBL 4 TEAMS TIED ON 17 WINS |
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CHESHIRE JETS |
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CHANNEL 4 TO BROADCAST 2011 BT PARALYMPIC WORLD CUP
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The London 2012 Paralympic Games host broadcaster Channel 4 has further demonstrated its commitment to raising awareness of world-class elite disability sport by announcing that it will broadcast the BT Paralympic World Cup, taking place in Manchester from 23-28 May.
The announcement adds an exciting new dimension to the BT Paralympic World Cup and will provide the event with the strongest broadcast coverage it has ever received on UK television.
Manchester has committed for the seventh consecutive year to hosting elite international athletes competing across Wheelchair Basketball, Athletics and Swimming. In addition, Boccia and Sitting Volleyball will be represented for the first time, with international matches staged during the competition.
The 2011 BT Paralympic World Cup will receive unprecedented television coverage, with Channel 4 committing to a two hour live programme on 28 May, as well daily highlights packages on 26 and 27 May. Live daily streaming from each sport will also be broadcast on the Channel 4 website: www.channel4.com/paralympics.
Deborah Poulton, Sports Editor, Paralympics at Channel 4, said, “We are thrilled to be adding the BT Paralympic World Cup to our TV sporting schedules. Alongside the London 2012 Paralympic Games, the BT Paralympic World Cup is another opportunity to help increase awareness of Paralympic sport and make the British viewing public the best informed and most engaged in the world. We believe the combination of online streaming and TV highlights coverage will attract new audiences to the BT Paralympic World Cup and give the event and its competitors the profile they deserve.”
With the 2010 BT Paralympic World Cup breaking record attendance figures for a UK disability sporting event, the competition will this year build on the success of the team challenge format across the three sports, which will see Great Britain taking on teams from Europe, the Americas and the Rest of the World, with the latter team the defending champions.
Suzi Williams, Director, BT Group Marketing and Brand, said, “The 2010 BT Paralympic World Cup was a fantastic success, with record crowds and some spectacular sporting performances. This year’s BT Paralympic World Cup will raise the bar even higher, it’s a must-attend event for the world’s best Paralympic athletes as they prepare for the Paralympic Games next year and I look forward to seeing some world class coverage on Channel 4.”
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SHEFFIELD HATTERS WIN THE NATIONAL CUP AGAIN |
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IS MANCHESTER MAGIC ABOUT TO MAKE THE MOVE TO THE BBL? |
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Following the success of last week's BBL Trophy game at the Amaechi Centre in Manchester, the Manchester Evening News is speculating that The Manchester Magic are considering a move to the BBL which will see top flight basketball returning to the Manchester area.
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LATEST MIKE SHAFT BLOG PUBLISHED |
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Last night at the Amaechi was a truly glorious night. The Mersey Tigers were entertaining the Newcastle Eagles and what an awesome game it turned out to be! There was however a disappointing aspect to the evening's proceedings, and that was the final score. At the end of regulation the scores were tied 82 a piece and that was the end of the game.
Well a few weeks ago I wrote an article for the Sheffield Sharks game night programme on that very subject. I will share it with you here. READ THE ARTICLE HERE |
MERSEY TIGERS AND NEWCASTLE EAGLES FIGHT TO A STALEMATE |
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BBL Trophy semi-final first leg
Mersey Tigers 82 (20,50,54) (Reinking 20, Sullivan 18, Thomson/Toney 12)
Newcastle Eagles 82 (26,45,64) ) (Chapman 22, Smith 16, Moore 15)
An amazing night at the Amaechi Centre in Manchester saw Mersey Tigers and Newcastle Eagles end up with a very unusual 82-82 draw in the first leg of their BBL Trophy semi-final.
A tie at the end of a basketball match is a very rare event, but the aggregate scoring system of the Trophy semi-finals means the two teams will tip-off level in the second leg at Sport Central on Friday evening.
If the next match is anything like the opening forty minutes then the north-east is in for quite a treat after a topsy-turvey encounter, which saw Tigers rebound from being held to just four points in the third quarter to score 28 in the fourth.
The game had seemed straightforward in the early stages as Tigers led 11-10 after four minutes.
However, Darius Defoe's two baskets started an 16-5 run for Eagles which helped the visitors surge into a 16-26 lead before being pegged back to 20-26 after ten minutes.
Tigers scored the first eight points of the second period to make it a 12-0 burst over the break. Their 28-26 lead was soon turned into a 32-40 deficit as Trey Moore punished his former club with some excellent play.
Great Britain skipper Andrew Sullivan was next to inflict pain on his ex-employers as he notched the final five points in an 18-5 run to end the first half to give Tigers a 50-45 advantage mind you the ups and downs of the first half were nothing compared to the third and fourth quarters.
Tigers offence went stone cold as Eagles, in typical fashion turned up the intensity of their defence. The home team went two of 14 from the field to score a paltry four points. Newcastle were hardly prolific as they managed only 19 points in response. It did give them a 10 point cushion (54-64) though as the teams headed for the final stanza.
Tony Garbelotto's men found their range again in the fourth quarter. A 9-0 run to start the period quickly made it 63-64. And despite Eagles moving out to 71-77 on an Andrew Bridge bucket, Tigers completed a remarkable comeback when a Nate Reinking three capped an 8-0 tear.
The teams traded baskets for final two minutes of the match with neither able to get more than two points clear. Joe Chapman (pictured) ended the excitement with a two to tie the scores at 82-82.
Perhaps fittingly James Jones shot at the buzzer missed and landed in the hands of Eagles player-coach Fab Flournoy who will be one of two play-callers leading their teams into a second leg with neither having a lead. |
MORE BASKETBALL NEWS HERE |
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