Three Games to Decide Their Destiny

Game 1 will take place at the fabulous Echo Arena in Liverpool as the Everton Tigers (19 & 5) take on the Newcastle Eagles (21 & 4) in the first of three encounters as we try to find out who will win the BBL Championship for the 2008/09 season.

Game 2 will be at the Newcastle Arena two days later on Tuesday 31st March while the final encounter between the teams will be back on Merseyside on Sunday the 12th of April, this time at the Greenbank Academy.

The teams had been due to play each other in the BBL Championship earlier in the season but those games were converted to Cup games because of possible fixture pileup. So here we are at the sharp end of the season and nobody knows who is going to lift the Crown.

The teams have each won one of the two available trophies already decided. The Tigers were first out of the block in January, defeating the Eagles in the semi-final to lift the BBL Cup.

In the Final the Tigers destroyed the Plymouth Raiders 102 – 49 in one of the most one-sided Cup Finals in BBL history. Andre Smith of the Tigers was simply awesome, taking the MVP honours.

The Eagles on the other hand lifted the BBL Trophy after defeating the Tigers in the semi-final. In that Final the Eagles defeated the Guildford Heat 71-83 on the Heat court in Guildford.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Eagles and the Tigers are the best two teams in the BBL. They are practically neck and neck at the top of the table and as I said some time ago, these three games in 2 weeks, will almost certainly decide the destination of the BBL Championship.

In the build-up to this game both coaches have been waxing lyrical, first Tony Garbelotto of the Tigers, “I think we have to win all three games against the Eagles. We’d be in pole position if we won two, but we have the toughest schedule to finish the season and could easily drop a game during the run-in. Of the teams we face, only Worthing are likely not to have something to play for, and all of the others will be going hell for leather.”

Eagles player-coach Fabulous Flournoy, is excited about the game “It’s the first game in another series against Everton, and it’s exciting because it’s a potential league decider. I’m pretty sure they’ll be ready to go, they’re well coached and they’ll be well prepared. Both sides will be up for it, and I expect it will be a hard fought and entertaining game.”

Both coaches have been missing star players and potential game winners in recent weeks but both are back and Garbelotto was very happy with the return of Richard Midgley in last weeks encounters with the Milton Keynes Lions and Cheshire Jets, “Richard Midgely was back to his best over the weekend, he had two solid games, and we’re going to need him back at his best this weekend.”

Flournoy has been playing and winning without the reigning BBL MVP Lynard Stewart but Nard is back in the Eagles uniform.

Says Flournoy, “They have too many players to be able to say who can hurt us, that’s the scenario. But the one saving grace for us is that we have Lynard back. That was the point of him playing in the last couple of game, so he could start to get back into game shape. He needed a couple of stitches after the Milton Keynes game, but there’s no doubt he’ll be playing at the weekend. I doubt I could stop him if I wanted to!”

One of the intriguing aspects of this series of games is the movement of players between the Eagles and the Tigers. Most if not all in one direction; the Tigers can count on Midgley, Babalola, and Dorsey to really turn up against their old team.

Not many people will even know or want to admit that the foundation of the success that the Eagles are enjoying was laid back around the turn of the century when one Tony Garbelotto was in charge at the Newcastle Arena.

Further, these two teams have the best imported players in the BBL. Guys like Gross, Bailey and Smith of the Tigers and Moore, Toney and Jackson not to mention Stewart of the Eagles.

Another contest that will be decided in the coming weeks will be the BBL Player of the Year. For many there is only one contestant, Andre Smith of the Tigers but keep an eye on Trey Moore of the Eagles. His performances recently have, in my opinion, made it a two horse race.

Which ever team wins the BBL Championship might also have the BBL Player of the Year.

So there you have it, three games in two weeks that could decide the destiny of two great organisations in the BBL. The masters against the new boys!

Let’s give the final word to the Eagles play caller Fab Flournoy, “Every time we meet them it seems to be part of a series, first it was the Cup semi-finals, then the Trophy and now the probable deciders for the league. It’s going to be a great set of games, and the rivalry we’ve build has probably come in a record amount of time.”

He continued, “It’s basically happened in the space of a year because we’re both challenging for the title, and because of the player movement between the clubs. They know the best of our game and we know the best of theirs. We’ve played well against each other and poorly against each other, so it’s going to be a great series.”

Later

Mike S